The Genius Actor Who Brings Misfortune

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter 85

The scene to be filmed in the evening was the climax that appeared toward the end of the movie.

Filming in chronological order would enhance immersion, but due to the on-site schedule, it was a difficult reality to achieve.

It was a cut that naturally made me tense, as we had to skip the incidents and perform the climax right away.

Ever since I first met Nam In-hoo, we had talked countless times about how to act out this scene.

So, when he said this, I couldn’t help but frown.

“Just do it roughly. Anyway, I’m not going to appear in it.”

“What?”

What was he saying?

“Hyung, do you know what you just said?”

“…….”

The gloomy look in his eyes had sunk like a swamp by the evening.

This wasn’t something to just let go, thinking he would resolve it on his own.

I asked Director Yoon Kang-yeon, who came over cheerfully to check if we were ready, to give us a moment, and then I led Nam In-hoo into the tent.

“Hyung, if you don’t tell me why you’re upset, I won’t know. If it’s something I did to upset you, tell me. I’ll apologize.”

If you just hate me, I could at least understand that.

Isn’t it weird to suddenly act like this after getting along well all this time?

“……You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Then why did you say that?”

“Anyway, it’s true that I’m not going to appear. So, just….”

Nam In-hoo hung his head low.

I swallowed a sigh that was coming up.

I had a rough idea of what he was thinking.

After acting tirelessly all day, it was only natural to feel disheartened if your performance didn’t make it to the final cut.

It was an understandable feeling, but―.

“Hyung, you said you came here to act.”

“…….”

“Whether or not you’re in the movie, acting is acting. For whatever reason, I don’t want to work with someone who acts half-heartedly.”

I didn’t add anything like, ‘I understand how you feel.’

Because whatever I said, from the perspective of Nam In-hoo, who wouldn’t appear on screen as much as I would, would only feel resentful.

“There’s no need to mention the nobility of acting. We get paid to do this. How can we do a paid job half-heartedly?”

I said it in a deliberately flat tone, as if it were no big deal.

There was more I wanted to say, but I held back, thinking it would sound like nagging, and silence continued.

I was about to leave the tent, thinking it might be better to give him some time alone, when I heard a small mumble.

“How can I act like you?”

“What?”

“I know. I know you practice a lot. I can’t not know. It’s not that I don’t know that… If I practice a lot, can I act like you?”

Nam In-hoo’s eyes were already red.

I watched him silently and then slowly answered.

“I don’t know either.”

“…….”

Seeing the disappointment quickly soaking his eyes, I continued slowly.

“But I like your acting even now.”

“That kind of talk is even more miserable, you know?”

“But it’s true. I liked it from the beginning. I’m the one who said we should cast you.”

“…? You did?”

The voice that had been sinking low suddenly jumped up.

“Yes. I liked you the best.”

“…….”

“There are many people who are good at acting. There are plenty of people who act better than you and me. But… if I like it, I just like it.”

I looked calmly into his wide-open eyes.

“You were good enough during the audition, and now you’re more stable. Didn’t you think you had improved a lot yourself?”

“…….”

“I think you’re good at acting and I like it. I don’t know how it will sound, but don’t rush.”

As I added, “Just don’t act half-heartedly,” his face turned red in an instant.

I comforted him, telling him it was okay, as he apologized, filled with shame.

“Is there anything else you want to talk about?”

“No…. Nothing.”

“Alright. Come on in!”

When I shouted toward the outside, Nam In-hoo’s eyes widened.

The owner of the footsteps, who had been hovering outside for a long time, walked in sheepishly.

“Sorry for interrupting. Did you have a good talk?”

“We didn’t fight.”

“Who said you did?”

I could see what he was thinking just by looking at his eyes, darting between Nam In-hoo and me.

Director Yoon, looking hit to the core, told us to come out if we were ready and left first.

As I was about to follow him out, someone grabbed my sleeve.

“Let’s do well today. I’ll do my best.”

His eyes, wide open, looked excessively determined.

I swallowed a smile and nodded.

“Okay. I’ll do my best too.”

“You… do it just a little.”

?

* * *

Kang Tae-il was trembling but gritting his teeth.

Although he was standing in the pouring rain as if a hole had been punched in the sky, the reason for his trembling wasn’t the cold.

Kang Tae-il was angry.

He had been betrayed.

“Hey, you, son of a b☓☓h!”

As soon as he saw In-yeong sitting alone on the riverbank, he shouted for the same reason.

He slipped while climbing the riverbank in a hurry, but even lying down, he raised his hand and dragged the sitting In-yeong down.

Thanks to that, Lee Jin-woo’s clothes, which had been just wet with rain, got dirtied with muddy water.

“You b☓☓☓d, you knew everything. You did it knowing everything.”

“…….”

“Everything’s ruined because of you. Everything’s f☓☓ked. Are you happy?”

Kang Tae-il grabbed Lee Jin-woo by the collar and slammed him to the ground.

Lee Jin-woo shook without any resistance like a paper doll.

Kang Tae-il, whose face was contorted with anger, looked furious, while Lee Jin-woo, who kept his mouth shut without any expression, looked bored.

The two people with different expressions were feeling the same emotion.

They were miserable and helpless.

“D☓mn it, say something….”

Kang Tae-il’s voice began to tremble.

At the voice that sounded like a lost child, Lee Jin-woo slowly raised his head.

The two people, who had the same face, made eye contact.

“Can you just kill me?”

“……What?”

“I tried, but I just can’t commit suicide. I told my mother to do as she wished, but she said she couldn’t. Haha, d☓mn it…. Why did I do all that before?”

Kang Tae-il thought that the curse words coming out of Lee Jin-woo’s mouth were strangely unfit for him.

Their blankly staring eyes created a blurry smile.

“Still, isn’t it kind of like a drama to die at the hands of your brother?”

“You crazy b☓☓☓d!”

Kang Tae-il thought his eyeballs felt excessively hot.

It felt like someone had poured oil inside and it was boiling over.

So he squinted his eyes.

It wasn’t because he felt like crying, but simply because his eyes were hot.

“If you want it so much, I’ll do it.”

His hand, divided into five parts, wrapped around the soft neck.

Kang Tae-il tried hard to ignore the creepy sensation as his grip tightened.

“You can’t possibly be my family. Don’t say something so creepy.”

“Ugh―.”

Lee Jin-woo gasped for breath.

Ignoring the instinctive struggle, Kang Tae-il didn’t let go of his grip.

Blood vessels stood out in Lee Jin-woo’s eyes. The movements of his flailing body gradually subsided.

“……My family is somewhere else.”

“…….”

“The people you killed today… d☓mn it, they’re my real family.”

His trembling voice finally began to carry a sob.

Strangling a murderer, Kang Tae-il cried like a child.

“Cut!”

As soon as Director Yoon shouted “cut,” the rain pouring down from the sprinkler stopped.

The staff rushed toward the two children entangled on the ground.

“Cough, cough.”

One of the staff quickly helped Nam In-hoo up and covered him with a towel.

After coughing a few times, he signaled that he was okay.

After wiping his face a few times with the towel and looking around, he saw An Jin-bae holding something.

“Are you guys okay?”

“Yes. I’m okay, but….”

Before I could say that Lee Yeon-jae didn’t seem okay, Director Yoon’s gaze was also fixed in one place.

Lee Yeon-jae, covered with a blanket, wasn’t clearly visible.

An Jin-bae was whispering that it was okay to the trembling figure under the blanket.

Director Yoon and the staff tactfully stepped back, and Nam In-hoo, who missed the timing to get up, awkwardly touched his neck.

‘I’m the one who got strangled….’

Still, he couldn’t feel embarrassed.

The expression Lee Yeon-jae made at the end, as Kang Tae-il, was so chilling that recalling it now still gave him goosebumps.

It was hard to say whether the thing flowing from his eyes was tears or rain.

It was a confused expression that was too good to just be described as excellent.

It was almost thrilling to see such raw emotions without going through film.

Lee Yeon-jae, who usually snapped out of character within a few seconds, didn’t come out of the blanket until a minute had passed.

Seeing the actor’s utterly exhausted face, Director Yoon felt an unnecessary sense of guilt.

“Are you okay? We have plenty of time, so let me know if you need more.”

“No, I’m fine now. Hyung, are you okay? I think I might have overdone it.”

“No. You did well as we practiced.”

Though it had gotten a bit intense at the end, it still wasn’t excessive.

Over the past few days, Lee Yeon-jae and Nam In-hoo had been thinking about how to mimic “a person being strangled.”

It was a period that made me realize once again that Lee Yeon-jae was not an ordinary person.

Without any preparation, Lee Yeon-jae would bulge the veins on his temples, subtly roll his eyes back, and make choking sounds.

Then, he would return to his normal face and say,

‘Wouldn’t this work?’

‘……’

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a method that resonated much with Nam In-hoo.

Considering Nam In-hoo’s position, where he needed some pressure on his neck to immerse himself, Lee Yeon-jae had constantly checked and practiced exerting safe levels of force.

And he succeeded.

“Don’t worry. It wasn’t excessive at all. But I was surprised when you slipped. Are you okay?”

The slip while climbing the riverbank wasn’t in the script.

It was a mistake caused by the wet mud, but before Director Yoon could shout “NG,” Lee Yeon-jae had pulled down Nam In-hoo.

The intense look in Lee Yeon-jae’s eyes as he clenched his teeth and reached out made everyone watching hold their breath for a moment.

Unlike the original plan of climbing the riverbank and pushing Lee Jin-woo, the two ended up rolling in the mud, making the scene even more desperate.

Without hesitation, Director Yoon scrapped the original plan.

“Should we postpone the shoot? We can use the sprinkler for two more days anyway. We can do it tomorrow.”

Despite Director Yoon’s words, Lee Yeon-jae, with a face full of fatigue, shook his head immediately.

And everyone there knew it would happen.

Fortunately, as the cut was repeated, Lee Yeon-jae came out of immersion more easily.

“Good job, everyone~!”

The result was worth the effort.

Both actors, checking the filming footage, smiled with satisfaction.

Watching An Jin-bae practically carrying Lee Yeon-jae to the car, Director Yoon quietly called Nam In-hoo.

“In-hoo, you did great.”

“What? Oh, yes! You worked hard too, Director.”

It was rare for Director Yoon to initiate a conversation, so Nam In-hoo was a bit flustered but quickly put on his social mask.

But the next words easily shattered it.

“Your acting today was truly excellent. It’s a shame we can’t use it in the final cut.”

“…….”

“I even thought about releasing a director’s cut with your version. I’ll talk to the production company about it. But! Don’t get your hopes up.”

Director Yoon, speaking thoughtlessly, turned his head when he got no response.

And he froze upon seeing Nam In-hoo’s twisted face.

Seeing the hesitant Director Yoon, Nam In-hoo tried to hold back, but eventually burst into tears.

As the staff jeered at the director for making the kid cry, and the day’s commotion finally came to an end.

—

**New Elements and Characters:**

– 강태일 = Kang Tae-il = He
– 인영 = In-yeong = He