The Face Genius Actor

Episode 100

was famous as a somewhat intense program that involved a lot of physical activity, as befitting a variety show.

It was said that if you appeared as a guest on once, you’d be bedridden for days.

Of course, the amount of exercise had decreased a lot compared to when they were doing “name tag ripping,” but it was still a demanding variety show.

Depending on the filming, sometimes as much physical exertion as during “name tag ripping” was required.

Knowing this, my brother had been reluctant to film .

But personally, I was a true fan of , and I wanted to appear on it at least once when the opportunity arose.

For that reason, I was secretly disappointed that we couldn’t appear when there was a lot of talk about the “Lee Brothers.”

I thought there would be another chance, but honestly, as a true fan, I wanted to appear as soon as possible.

However, I got another chance not too late, and finally, I was able to appear on .

I was so grateful that Ji Jung-hyun had changed his mind about appearing on variety shows.

As always, started filming with the opening show of the regular members.

Kim Jong-hyup, Yang Joo-chan, Ji Joon-seok, Song Ji-ho, Jeon So-ji, Ha Jung-hoon, and Yu Seok-jae appeared in front of the camera in order.

Then, as always, they criticized each other’s fashion in the same pattern.

“Ah, Joon-seok hyung. What’s that? Did you come from making kimchi?”

“This guy doesn’t know fashion again. Red pants are so trendy these days.”

“How can red pants be trendy? This hyung, it’s kimchi-making season so he’s wearing whatever.”

“Hey, you jerk. Are you going to make kimchi for our house?”

“Why would I make kimchi?”

“If you’re not going to make it, be quiet.”

Yu Seok-jae naturally pointed out Ji Joon-seok’s fashion, who seemed the easiest target.

Stimulated by those words, Ji Joon-seok raised his voice as usual.

Anyone could see he was angry, but Ji Joon-seok always said he was just raising his voice, not getting angry.

Then Kim Jong-hyup suddenly looked towards Ha Jung-hoon and couldn’t help but attack.

“No, today Jung-hoon is worse than Joon-seok hyung? Doesn’t it look too obvious that he’s trying?”

Ji Joon-seok, who had been under concentrated attack from the members, quickly responded.

“Right. Looking at him wearing complete rags, there must be a well-dressed guest among us.”

“What do you mean rags? I dressed in a total Kanye West style.”

Ha Jung-hoon said this while showing off his characteristic cool pose.

Then Yu Seok-jae couldn’t help but comment.

“Hey, you should stop filming and go over there to beg for food.”

“Aoh! So annoying!”

After teasing Ha Jung-hoon like that, Yu Seok-jae turned his head towards Jeon So-ji.

Then he quickly spoke to Yang Joo-chan.

“Joo-chan, doesn’t your girlfriend look a bit sick today?”

“What? So-ji?”

“Yeah. She’s been flipping her hair behind her ear so much, it’s red there. Her face is flushed too.”

“Ah, she’s not my girlfriend today.”

Then Jeon So-ji couldn’t help but interrupt Yu Seok-jae and Yang Joo-chan’s conversation.

“Seok-jae oppa. Please don’t talk like that today. I’m a bit serious today.”

“Oh my. The love frogs are starting again. After today’s filming ends, one guest will be running away in a hurry.”

After Jeon So-ji had also thoroughly secured her screen time, I watched from outside the camera.

Watching ’s famous opening show, I couldn’t help but laugh.

But the filming of the opening show took longer than expected.

Perhaps because of this, Ji Jung-hyun grumbled beside me.

“I’m tired.”

Fortunately, before Ji Jung-hyun could get more annoyed, the opening show wrapped up, and the PD introduced today’s race.

“Today, we’ve prepared the ‘Seoul Escape Number One’ race with special guests.”

“Oh! Great! Seoul Escape Number One!”

“Ah, if it’s escape, those people must be coming.”

“Really? Amazing! I love them so much!”

“Hey! Jeon So-ji! Don’t pretend you didn’t know!”

“Then, please welcome our two special guests for today.”

With that, Ji Jung-hyun and I moved towards the camera amidst the enthusiastic cheers of the members.

We didn’t feel awkward because all the members greeted us warmly.

Especially in Yu Seok-jae’s case, it felt nice since we had met on .

Yu Seok-jae seemed to know this too, as he took extra care of me.

While I was greeting Yu Seok-jae like that,

Yang Joo-chan, who had shaken hands with me first and was standing to one side, pointed to the side.

“Wow…”

Kim Jong-hyup reacted to those words.

“Why? What?”

“Look at So-ji and Ji-ho noona over there.”

“Wow… That’s severe. Those two.”

I turned my head at those voices to check the faces of the two.

For some reason, they were staring at me with blank expressions.

Song Ji-ho was the first to come to her senses and speak.

“Si-joon… You’re so handsome. Really.”

“Ji-ho, why are you so surprised? You’ve seen many handsome actors. You’ve even acted with them.”

“No, I’ve seen many, but Si-joon feels different somehow. He’s just so handsome?”

Then Jeon So-ji, who had come to her senses belatedly, followed up on Song Ji-ho’s words.

“Right, unnie? I feel like my eyes have improved. My vision is completely Mongolian now.”

“What are you saying about Mongolians?”

“It’s true. Looking at Si-joon’s face… Ah, wait. I’m embarrassed.”

Jeon So-ji, whose eyes met mine, turned her head in embarrassment.

Her face even turned red, making it seem like she was really feeling embarrassed.

Then Yu Seok-jae, who had been watching this scene, took care of Ji Jung-hyun.

“Hey, aren’t you going to greet your senior?”

At those words, Song Ji-ho and Jeon So-ji greeted Ji Jung-hyun with a start.

“Hello, senior. You’re handsome too.”

“Senior! I’m really your fan! You’re handsome!”

But Ji Jung-hyun already looked disgruntled, as if his mood had soured.

Then he muttered so that only I could hear.

“If I had known it would be like this, I should have appeared alone.”

Hearing those words, I barely managed to hold back my laughter.

Meanwhile, Yu Seok-jae, who had organized the scene, started the interview.

“Well, you two. It’s already been released, right? These are the two lead actors of the movie , which is causing a storm these days.”

“Nice to meet you!”

“I’m a fan!”

“So handsome!”

“Then, to briefly talk about the movie , Ji Jung-hyun plays the role of Yoon Woo-sung, and…”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“And Lee Si-joon plays the role of Kim Sung-yeon, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then, could Lee Si-joon briefly explain about ?”

Following Yu Seok-jae’s request, I introduced as I had practiced.

“The movie depicts the process of two independence activists, who are carrying out a secret mission in Gyeongseong after receiving orders to secure funds, returning to Shanghai while evading Japanese troops.”

“Ah, independence activists.”

“That’s so great. Independence activists.”

“The movie already has scale.”

“But do you know what an independence activist is when you say that?”

“Of course I know. Why wouldn’t I know? It’s our history. It’s Rikidozan, right?”

“Pfft. He says Rikidozan. Joo-chan.”

The members didn’t hold back their reactions to my introduction.

They even raised the atmosphere by mixing in appropriate jokes here and there.

As expected of professional entertainers.

“I heard that Ji Jung-hyun recommended Lee Si-joon for ?”

Ji Jung-hyun nodded and answered Yu Seok-jae’s question.

“This friend played the same role as me in , and I’ve been keeping an eye on him since then. His acting was already complete. As for his appearance, as you can see from everyone’s reactions here… it was good.”

Ji Jung-hyun trailed off as he mentioned the last part.

Yu Seok-jae immediately noticed Ji Jung-hyun’s state.

“Ah, Jung-hyun. You’re completely sulking. Why are you sulking over something like that?”

Then Song Ji-ho and Jeon So-ji fidgeted and tried to cheer up Ji Jung-hyun.

But I just laughed comfortably without paying much attention.

Because I knew Ji Jung-hyun wasn’t really sulking.

‘He’s nailed the concept again.’

Ji Jung-hyun was rather taciturn, but he wasn’t the type to hold such things in his heart.

Also, just because he was serious didn’t mean he had no wit at all.

Rather, it was more correct to see it as him pretending to sulk to enjoy this kind of atmosphere on purpose.

Sure enough, I could see Ji Jung-hyun flashing a slight smile between Song Ji-ho and Jeon So-ji.

I thought I could roughly guess Ji Jung-hyun’s broadcast concept for today.

* * *

Today’s ‘Seoul Escape Number One’ race was conducted in three teams.

The format was to visit famous restaurants in Seoul, play games, and the winning team would get hints about the spy.

In the final race, the team that won the gunfight and arrested the two spies would win.

If they couldn’t do that and even one spy survived, it was the spies’ victory regardless of the gunfight result.

So we arrived at the first restaurant located in Seodaemun.

I was on a team with Yu Seok-jae and Jeon So-ji through a draw.

Ji Jung-hyun was on a team with Yang Joo-chan and Song Ji-ho, and the remaining team was Kim Jong-hyup, Ha Jung-hoon, and Ji Joon-seok.

The PD explained the rules of the first race.

“The first game here in Seodaemun, where both beef brisket tteokbokki and hints about the spy are at stake, is the ‘Yang Joo-chan Game’.”

“Yang Joo-chan Game!”

“They’re doing something fun!”

“It’s been a while! This game!”

I knew this game too.

It could be described as a kind of Twenty Questions game.

The difference was that three people play the game simultaneously and they have to guess a person.

Also, there was no limit to the number of questions until the answer was guessed.

Thanks to the element of deduction and the rule that allows intentionally giving misleading answers,

It was a game loved by many fans.

“Si-joon, do you know the Yang Joo-chan Game?”

I nodded at Yu Seok-jae’s question.

“Yes. It’s my favorite game among games.”

“Oh? Really? Then would you like to go as the first player?”

“Sure. If you give me the chance, I’ll do my best.”

So I went out as the first player for our team.

Yang Joo-chan came out from Ji Jung-hyun’s team, and Ji Joon-seok came out from Kim Jong-hyup’s team.

Both of them were people who performed well in this game.

Especially in Yang Joo-chan’s case, his performance was so great that the game was named after him.

‘Of course, that doesn’t mean he’s good at guessing in the game…’

So I, Yang Joo-chan, and Ji Joon-seok put on hats according to the rules.

The correct answer each of us had to guess was written on our foreheads.

‘Yang Joo-chan is David Beckham and Ji Joon-seok is… Huh?’

Ji Joon-seok’s given word was Cindy.

I thought it was a coincidence and waited for Ji Joon-seok’s first question.

Ji Joon-seok asked quite a sharp question.

“This person right now… What’s their job?”

I thought for a moment and answered.

“Hmm… How should I put it… It’s something like a princess…”

With my answer, everyone there burst into laughter.