NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 72
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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 72. Invitation
“Director Lee. The screen came out well, didn’t it?”
“These days, if you spend money, all CG comes out well. Director, rather than that, I’m looking forward to the ending scene post-processing that’s about to be completed.”
“The desert chase scene you mentioned last time?”
Director Hwang, who had seen the roughly edited footage before sending it for post-processing, nodded and looked back at the screen where the preview was now playing.
“Ryu Yeon-woo. That guy’s got talent.”
Just then, a Drama Department employee burst through the director’s office door without knocking, as if it was urgent business.
“Director! The final viewership ratings have been compiled.”
“How did it turn out?”
The employee handed the printed paper to Director Hwang.
Director Hwang hurriedly took it and looked at it.
Director Lee Sang-hoon also leaned in to see it together.
This was data received directly from the viewership rating company, earlier and more accurate than the internet.
– KBC 1 「Stars Beyond the Stream」
Episode 2 viewership [15.9%] ▲2.2%
– MBS 「Baldur」
Episode 4 viewership [18.3%] ▼1.5%
“We did it! The graph turned around.”
Although they hadn’t caught up yet, seeing the graph climbing up for episodes 1 and 2 consecutively, from Director Hwang’s 30 years of experience, in cases like this, unless a major incident occurs, they would smoothly reverse the situation in the middle part and absorb the competing show’s viewership to keep climbing.
Director Hwang Cheol-young patted Director Lee Sang-hoon’s back beside him and smiled with satisfaction.
“Director Lee, if you run short on production budget while filming the latter half, tell me right away. Got it?”
“Yes, Director. Hahaha.”
Today, Director Lee Sang-hoon’s shoulders seemed twice as broad as usual.
***
The next day, Yeon-woo left home in the morning, drove his car, and headed to the special set.
When he arrived at the entrance, a security guard stopped the car and approached.
“How may I help you?”
“I came to the Stars Beyond the Stream set.”
“Ah, you can go to B2 Section over there. If you go around to the side, there’s a parking lot.”
“Thank you.”
Following the security guard’s directions, he drove around and saw a fairly large-scale building.
“The scale is quite impressive.”
He parked his car and entered the building, where he saw staff busily carrying equipment.
“Oh? Yeon-woo.”
“Ki-hoon hyung.”
A lighting team staff member who was installing lights spotted Yeon-woo entering and ran over.
“You got time off but came to the filming set so soon?”
“I came early to look around. My family home is in Daejeon. Is the director here?”
“If you go into Set 3 over there, he should be there.”
Yeon-woo opened the door and entered where the staff had directed him.
When he opened the door and went in, he saw a set decorated like a cave.
In reality, you could tell it was a set by the materials, but it was quite dark, so it would probably look convincing on screen.
Inside, Director Lee Sang-hoon, who was checking camera frames and setting up shots, came into Yeon-woo’s view.
“Director.”
“Hmm? Oh, Yeon-woo? Why didn’t you rest and came already?”
“My family home is near here. So I came to take a look in advance. By the way, the set is amazing, isn’t it?”
“Haha. Did you see the next room? In the chroma key room, we even planted several trees.”
Director Lee Sang-hoon excitedly began explaining various things about the set.
“Oh right, good timing. Yeon-woo, want to get in the frame? I should set up the lighting in advance to match your face for each scene.”
“Ah, yes. Should I stand here?”
“Okay. Good. Sang-myeong, set up the lighting.”
While Yeon-woo was serving as the subject and helping the staff with their setup, the set door opened and another actor entered.
“Hello, Director. Huh? Yeon-woo?”
“Yu-han.”
Yeon-woo was also surprised by Jin Yu-han’s unexpected appearance.
True to being a fool who only knows acting, Jin Yu-han had departed from Seoul in the morning and arrived at the set.
“Wow, the passion of our actors brings tears to my eyes. Sob sob.”
Director Lee Sang-hoon’s lips curved up as he playfully pretended to cry.
“When did you get here? I didn’t expect you to come too.”
“My house is near here. I came to take a look while I was at it.”
“This worked out perfectly. Both actors. Since you’re both here, let’s go ahead and match everything in advance.”
They began rehearsing in advance not only the scenes featuring Yeon-woo but also the scenes where both appeared together.
“Ah, if all actors would just do this, the quality would improve significantly.”
Director Lee Sang-hoon’s heart burned with passion as he watched the two young actors who would take only a day off even when given a break from their grueling schedule, then show up at the filming set as if they had made a promise.
“That’s right, when young actors are overflowing with such passion, I’ll pour my soul into it too.”
The passion flowing from above gradually infected the staff below, naturally creating an enthusiastic atmosphere.
As they rehearsed with all their passion, it was already 4 PM before they knew it.
“Alright, actors, let’s call it here and head home. If you burn too bright, you’ll get sick, so you need to manage your condition.”
“Yes, Director.”
Yeon-woo had become somewhat familiar with the set as he walked around, and while rehearsing with Jin Yu-han, he had roughly finished planning in his head how he would act.
Jin Yu-han also stretched and followed him out of the set building.
“Ugh, I’m pretty tired too since we started early this morning.”
“Yu-han, are you going back up to Seoul now?”
“Hmm, I don’t have any particular schedule, but I probably should, right?”
That’s when Yeon-woo remembered his younger sister So-hyeon asking for an autograph.
“I guess seeing the real person would be better than just an autograph.”
“Hm?”
“Yu-han, want to come to my house? There’s a guest room available, sleep over and go up tomorrow. The sun will set soon anyway.”
Jin Yu-han had been a child actor since he was young and didn’t have many friends his age, so he had never been to a friend’s house.
Since he had gained a peer friend worth acknowledging through acting, which was both his only hobby and profession, Yu-han had been enjoying acting quite a lot recently, so he was tempted by his friend Yeon-woo’s suggestion.
“Hmm, should I…? Won’t I be bothering your other family members?”
“No, friends often sleep over anyway, so they won’t mind much.”
In fact, when preparing for the college entrance exam, if it got late while studying, Jun-su and Seong-sik would sometimes sleep over in the guest room.
However, unlike his school friends Woo Seong-sik and Kim Jun-su, it was uncertain whether his family would accept Jin Yu-han, who had been a famous actor for over ten years since his child actor days, in the same way.
Yeon-woo took out his smartphone and called his mother.
– Yes, son.
“Mother, a friend wants to sleep over at home today. The guest room is clean, right?”
– I did a thorough cleaning the day before you came down, so it’s spotless. Who is it? Is Jun-su coming?
“No. It’s a different friend. Then I’ll come home with him.”
– Alright. Do that.
“Yu-han, then shall we go home and practice lines while looking at the script?”
“Oh, that sounds perfect.”
“Then let’s leave your car here and take mine.”
And so the two, who were more serious about acting than anyone else, got in the car and headed to his family home.
Beep beep─.
When they opened the door lock and entered, his mother wasn’t home.
“She must have gone to the market to buy dinner ingredients.”
“I see. This is my first time visiting a friend’s house.”
“Oh really?”
Yeon-woo asked back, but thinking about it, he had no memory of visiting a friend’s house in his previous life either.
No, did he even have friends to begin with?
“Hmm, thinking about it, I haven’t been to many either. Should I give you a tour of the house?”
It wasn’t a house big enough to give a proper tour, but since he was planning to stay overnight, Yeon-woo took Yu-han around and showed him various places.
“This is my younger sister’s room, but it would be a bit awkward to open the door without her permission. She’s at a sensitive age.”
“Oh, you have a younger sister?”
“Her name is So-hyeon. Ryu So-hyeon.”
Upon hearing the name, Jin Yu-han clapped his hands.
“Right, I remember now. At the last awards ceremony, you said she had the same name as actress Han So-hyeon.”
“She watched episode 2 of our drama and has been your fan since yesterday. Give her an autograph later.”
“Hahaha. Really?”
Just then, they heard the sound of the door opening and his mother came in from grocery shopping at the market.
“Mother, you’re back.”
Yeon-woo went out to the entrance to greet her and took the shopping basket from her.
“Did your friend come with you? Which friend… oh my goodness!”
His mother was startled when she opened the inner door with Yeon-woo and entered the living room to see Jin Yu-han.
“Hello, Mother. I’m Jin Yu-han, filming with Yeon-woo.”
“Oh my, oh my, I know. Of course I know.”
“Please speak comfortably. I’m Yeon-woo’s friend.”
“Hoho, is that so? You rascal. If the friend you were bringing was such a star, you should have told me. I would have bought some beef.”
His mother joked around after seeing Jin Yu-han politely bow in greeting, then hit Yeon-woo’s back.
This was the second time receiving his mother’s back smash since watching the broadcast of the self-camera filming in his room during the variety show “Yeo-reum’s Dining Table.”
“Mother. Seong-sik and Jun-su would be hurt if they heard that.”
“Huh? Would they? Well, I can grill beef for those guys too. Anyway, sit on the sofa. I’ll cut some fruit for you right away.”
His mother walked to the kitchen, and Yeon-woo took out his script and sat on the living room sofa with Jin Yu-han.
The two quickly became absorbed in the script, sharing their interpretations with each other, seriously discussing their acting, and synchronizing their dialogue delivery.
Lee Seon-ok, who had come out with a plate full of cut fruit, stood quietly at the kitchen entrance watching her son and Jin Yu-han, and tears welled up slightly in her eyes.
‘That child who was struggling so much and was so dark…’
She couldn’t be happier seeing how well he had grown and changed 180 degrees.
“Eat this while you work, sons.”
“Thank you, Mother.”
As they ate the fruit and settled down at the living room table in earnest, taking notes and practicing their acting together, it quickly grew dark outside.
Ding-a-ling─.
The front door opened with noisy sounds as Father and So-hyeon came in.
“Mom, mom! You know, I took the September mock exam today and the teacher said…, Kyaaah-!”
So-hyeon, who had been chattering about what happened at school as she came in, screamed in surprise when she saw Jin Yu-han sitting in her family’s living room.
“What’s with this girl suddenly making noise… Huh?”
Father, who was following behind, also discovered Jin Yu-han and his eyes widened.
“Hello. I’m Jin Yu-han, Yeon-woo’s friend. I’m hoping to impose on you for the day.”
“Ah, I see. Nice to meet you. My goodness, you’re even more handsome and impressive than on screen.”
Father shook hands with Jin Yu-han while patting his shoulder.
After Jin Yu-han finished greeting Father, he looked at younger sister Ryu So-hyeon who remained frozen behind them.
“Hello? You’re So-hyeon, right?”
“Hieek.”
Ryu So-hyeon made a strange shriek and hurriedly ran into her room.
“Why is that kid acting like that? Sorry about that, Yu-han.”
“…Um, hasn’t Younger Sibling finished going through puberty yet?”
“Haha. No, it’s fine.”
When Father and Yeon-woo smiled awkwardly and apologized, Jin Yu-han waved his hands saying it was okay.
As Father was asking Jin Yu-han about his concerns regarding whether Yeon-woo was doing well on the filming set, barely about 3 minutes had passed when So-hyeon’s room door cracked open and Younger Sibling came out.
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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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