The Genius Actor Who Brings Misfortune

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter: 9

“Excuse me, coming through!”

“PD! Please look at this!”

“Hey, who piled up these boxes here? Move them now!”

The drama filming set I visited for the first time was more chaotic than I had imagined.

The park was filled with camera equipment, tall lights, and people in black clothes bustling around.

I looked around for a moment and spotted the photographer who had given me his business card, moving towards him.

“Hello.”

“Ah, hello! You’re early.”

The photographer’s tired face brightened noticeably.

He probably wore the same expression the day I called him.

―Hello.

“Hello, this is Lee Yeon-jae, you gave me your business card yesterday.”

―Who?

“From the Morin Orphanage.”

―Ah! That handsome guy from yesterday―, you really called, thank you! I was so worried you wouldn’t.

After getting permission from the director, I called the photographer, who came over with a big smile on his face.

He showed my photo to the director, who immediately approved it, making him very excited.

The PD, being a type who strongly pursues naturalism, wanted to recruit children from the surroundings on the day of filming, but upon seeing my photo, he told him to bring me immediately.

“Heh, usually, when we recruit on the spot, we have to contact the parents and get their permission. The staff does all the troublesome work. You saved us.”

The photographer’s gratitude didn’t seem insincere, as he meticulously explained the role I had to play.

If you could even call it acting, that is.

My part was as follows:

#27. Park: Sunny afternoon.

Joo-won, after fighting with his younger sister, walks to the park. He sluggishly walks, picks up a ball on a bench, and sits down. At that moment, a child appears.

Child: Mister! Is that ball yours?

Joo-won: (annoyed tone) No.

Child: Then can I use it for a while? I’ll put it back!

Joo-won: (snarling) Hey, stop bothering me and go away.

The child, startled, runs away, and Joo-won sighs in frustration.

My appearance was barely 20 seconds long? There weren’t even specific instructions on expressions or actions.

Well, my goal wasn’t TV appearance anyway. There’s no need to worry about the screen time.

The reason I did this drama was for one thing only, as a test.

Honestly, I had no intention of contacting him even after receiving the business card.

Pretending to be someone else wasn’t something I could only do in front of a camera.

Though I knew nothing about drama filming, I was sure there would be a lot of people and equipment.

A perfect environment for unfortunate events to occur.

If not for Mist’s words, I wouldn’t have even considered looking at the business card again.

“Yeon-jae! But don’t you think that person will be worried if you pretend to be someone else again?”

“…You mean the director?”

“Yeah! I don’t really care~ but you seem to care a lot about him!”

Recalling the director’s confused face, I couldn’t bring myself to say it was fine.

In that case, I needed to seize this official opportunity to pretend to be someone else.

I spent the last six days pondering who I should imitate this time.

“What? Did you come alone?”

“…? Yes.”

I answered more puzzled than the photographer, who had asked with a curious tone.

I heard the teachers fiercely argued about who would accompany me to the set, but I didn’t really need a guardian.

The filming location wasn’t far from the orphanage, and it was certain to end before dark.

“First, let’s greet the PD… hmm, seems like he’s busy now. Why don’t you wait over there?”

I moved to the waiting area the photographer pointed out.

Although there were several empty chairs in the tent, I felt awkward sitting alone amidst the busy running people, so I remained standing.

“Aren’t you going to sit?”

At the sudden voice, I turned around to see a smiling face.

“Nice to meet you. You’re the child actor for today, right?”

“I’m not an actor, but yes, I’m here for today.”

“I see. I’m Lee Jung-hyun.”

“I’m Lee Yeon-jae. Please feel free to speak casually.”

“Haha, should I? Let’s sit for now. If you don’t sit, I can’t either. What kind of adult sits while a child is standing?”

Lee Jung-hyun, the actor playing the main character in the drama and appearing in today’s scene with me, had a gentle voice.

Even though it was clearly a cold winter day, his presence made the surrounding air feel warmer.

More impressive than his tall height and sharp features was his attitude towards me.

“You’re the first adult I’ve met who uses honorifics with me.”

Lee Jung-hyun made me sit next to him and handed me a hot pack from his pocket, asking if I was cold.

His soft, flowing voice matched well with the way his eyes folded when he smiled.

“I heard they planned to recruit on the spot, but we would have been in trouble without you. There’s no one in the park.”

It was definitely much colder today than last week.

My ears felt slightly sore from the wind hitting them on the way to the filming set.

“It must be because of the cold weather. Should I give you the hot pack back?”

“Haha, no. You use it. We have a box full of them in the car. Hey, can you bring some more hot packs?”

Lee Jung-hyun’s manager quickly brought dozens of hot packs along with a blanket and distributed them to the surrounding staff.

As soon as he received the blanket, Lee Jung-hyun draped it over my shoulders first and placed the remaining one on his own lap.

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. But are you always this quiet?”

The unexpected question made my eyes widen.

Since the moment filming started, I had coordinated with Mist to test, so I was acting according to my true nature now.

I guess it was obvious that I lacked social skills.

“Sorry. I must be nervous.”

“No, don’t apologize. I wasn’t criticizing, just curious. The atmosphere felt peculiar, so I wondered if you were doing it on purpose.”

“On purpose?”

“Yeah. It feels like you naturally draw attention even when you’re just sitting there. That’s not easy to achieve intentionally. Maybe you’re just born with it.”

Lee Jung-hyun smiled lightly, joking that I was a natural-born entertainer.

Even while chatting with the makeup artist, he kept saying things like, “Don’t you think Yeon-jae is really handsome? Wow, he’s got something special.”

It seemed he was worried about me being alone without a guardian, as his continuous conversation showed a natural kindness.

“Mr. Actor.”

“Hey, that’s too formal. Just call me hyung.”

“Ah, okay. Hyung, can you sign an autograph for me when you have time?”

“An autograph? Are you my fan?”

Although he couldn’t turn his face fully towards me as something was being applied to his cheeks, his half-turned body showed interest.

That reaction made me pause. I mentioned it because the teachers had fought enthusiastically over who could see Lee Jung-hyun’s face.

‘Should I just say I’m a fan even if it’s not true? But I don’t know anything about him.’

I knew he was a famous actor. Even someone like me who doesn’t use the internet much had heard his name a few times.

But that was it. While I was pondering, as soon as the makeup was done, Lee Jung-hyun looked at me.

His expression was peculiar.

“No way… you’re not my fan, are you?”

“…”

“Is it for your family?”

“It’s for my teachers. How did you know I’m not a fan?”

Lee Jung-hyun laughed loudly at my question and said how could he not know.

“I can tell just by looking at your eyes! You don’t have the look of someone meeting a celebrity.”

His face was full of laughter as he grumbled about how it was possible not to be his fan.

“I’ll give you the autograph after we finish filming. Don’t forget to get it. Are you well prepared?”

“To some extent, yes.”

“Wow, that’s impressive! I can’t imagine it. The PD wanted a bright and lively vibe, but you seem so different from that.”

“I’ll stand by!”

Our quiet conversation was interrupted by the voice of a staff member echoing from outside the tent.

I left the hot pack on the chair and stepped outside, where I faced Lee Jung-hyun.

“Yeon-jae. Are you ready?”

After finishing his makeup, Lee Jung-hyun exuded an even stronger celebrity aura.

Thinking of another presence watching this scene, I answered.

“Yes. I’m ready.”

The test begins. Mist.

* * *

The main PD of the drama ‘Tail: Tracking the Trace,’ Kim Johan, casually received greetings from the child actor who came for today’s shoot.

Tsk, it’s more natural and better to recruit this kind of extra on the spot… but things didn’t go as planned, leaving him a bit grumpy.

The child actor wore a yellow hat that highlighted his pale skin, making even the uninterested Kim Johan think, ‘This kid is quite cute.’

As expected from someone known to like children, Lee Jung-hyun stuck closely to the child actor.

It was quite a sight with those handsome guys together.

‘The visuals will come out well.’

He was pleased with how attentively the child actor listened to the explanations, despite being suddenly called out.

Tsk, it’s not even an important role… But the kid looks so good that I need to get a close-up shot, he quickly called the camera director.

“Jinho, let’s get a close-up shot of his face.”

“Okay, no need for a reflector with this one.”

As the title ‘Tail: Tracking the Trace’ suggests, it’s a crime mystery drama.

In the ever-popular mystery genre, with Lee Jung-hyun, the most prominent actor among men in their 20s, in the lead role, if I can’t make this work, I don’t deserve to be a PD.

The plot goes like this:

The protagonist, Joo-won, who had a bright future having been accepted to a prestigious university, enters the labor market after the death of his parents to support his only sister.

Once his sister becomes an elementary school teacher, he works at an errand center, living day-to-day.

Then his sister mentions something suspicious about the scholarship at her school, and Joo-won bluntly refuses her request to look into it.

He judges that it’s too big a problem for an ordinary person like him to handle, but his sister, undaunted, tries to dig into it.

After a big argument with his sister, Joo-won goes to the park to sigh, which is the scene to be shot today.

“Right after this scene, we’ll include a scene where his sister is being kind to her students. It’s a contrasting scene to Joo-won’s attitude, so, Jung-hyun, you need to look tough! Can you do that?”

“Haha, of course. Yeon-jae, don’t misunderstand. It’s not me getting angry, it’s Joo-won.”

Even then, Lee Jung-hyun spoke with a smile to ease the child actor’s tension.

The child actor, who had been smiling brightly all along, replied, “Okay~.”

Kim Johan thought to himself, ‘He doesn’t seem nervous at all.’

“Let’s try to get it in one take without any mistakes!”

“…”

“Jung-hyun?”

“Oh, yes! Sure.”

Though Lee Jung-hyun seemed suddenly flustered, Kim Johan didn’t pay much attention and returned to his chair.

In the now quiet space, Kim Johan’s rough voice echoed loudly.

“We’re starting the shoot. Ready… Action!”