The Face Genius Actor

Episode 017

‘For An Myung-hyun’s manager to bring this up…’

I felt a bit bewildered.

Because of that, I couldn’t decide how to respond for a moment.

It was natural since I had never thought I would receive an offer from FQ.

But soon my mind cleared and various thoughts began to surface.

Fortunately, I wasn’t inexperienced in this area.

Rather, I could say I had been through thick and thin, standing in the eye of the storm.

‘Are they trying to quickly recover from the blow received by An Myung-hyun with a new face?’

Certainly, FQ had suffered massive damage from An Myung-hyun’s departure.

It wasn’t simply terminating the exclusive contract of one affiliated celebrity.

With the main vocal and popular member An Myung-hyun leaving, even Nex’s activities were hindered.

Nex was a new branch in FQ’s boy group history.

It also accounted for a considerable portion of FQ’s overall revenue.

So FQ had to find a way to make up for the lost revenue somehow.

‘Presenting a new face would also help restore FQ’s tarnished image.’

It was a good method in many ways.

However, this alone didn’t fully explain why An Myung-hyun’s manager was approaching with such a humble attitude.

‘There must be another reason, but what? Could it be… that An Myung-hyun’s manager is being held responsible?’

If my guess was correct…

It seemed An Myung-hyun’s manager had received orders from higher-ups to definitely bring me in.

It was to bear the responsibility for not properly managing An Myung-hyun.

If that was the case, it explained why An Myung-hyun’s manager was so desperate.

‘I had somewhat figured it out when they were trying to package deal with An Myung-hyun… As expected, FQ is not of good quality.’

As an agency that needed to quickly resolve various issues, recruiting me was a good choice.

I could understand this part.

However, shifting responsibility to an employee like this was not good to see.

This part I couldn’t understand.

‘If it’s like this, the compensation issue will become complicated too.’

Currently, ’s drama production company had requested compensation from FQ.

It was a fair demand, given that An Myung-hyun had disrupted the drama filming schedule and caused re-shooting.

Moreover, many people thought wouldn’t perform well due to An Myung-hyun’s departure.

It was obviously not good to gain a negative image before the drama even aired.

‘But if FQ behaves like this, shifting responsibility to the manager…’

I couldn’t think they would willingly pay the compensation.

It was certain they would delay compensation by hesitating or even try to shift this responsibility to An Myung-hyun.

‘Clearly, An Myung-hyun bears great responsibility. From FQ’s standpoint, they might feel wronged.’

But in the end, it was FQ that chose and signed an exclusive contract with An Myung-hyun.

So it was right for FQ to take responsibility as well.

In this situation, taking the initiative to set an example would be the way to increase trust with affiliated artists and the industry.

‘But they won’t do that. Because they’re a group chasing immediate profits.’

Thinking about it, I remembered there were bad rumors about compensation before my regression.

Didn’t they say the compensation issue was even taken to court after repeatedly delaying it?

‘They’re certainly big and influential… But I absolutely can’t work with FQ.’

After organizing my thoughts like this, I raised my head to convey my decision.

Then I saw An Myung-hyun’s manager staring at me with a burdensome gaze.

Meeting those desperate eyes, I felt my heart waver slightly.

But now, the answer was to reject honestly and cleanly.

‘That way, An Myung-hyun’s manager will quickly give up. And make other plans.’

Perhaps reading the firmness in my expression, An Myung-hyun’s manager’s eyes changed a bit.

“It’s not difficult to spare time… But I have no intention of choosing an agency right now.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. And even if I choose an agency, I won’t go to FQ. I don’t think we match in many ways.”

“I see… As expected.”

An Myung-hyun’s manager seemed to give up on recruiting me after hearing my answer.

“I clearly understand what you’re saying, Actor Lee Si-joon. Then I apologize once again for making such a rude request.”

As An Myung-hyun’s manager slowly retreated, their expression seemed a bit relieved.

Seeing that, I hoped An Myung-hyun’s manager wouldn’t receive too harsh a reprimand.

* * *

After the first re-shooting.

Director Kang Han-sung seemed relieved by my acting skills.

The evidence was that he actively entrusted the re-shooting of to the B team director.

After that, Director Kang Han-sung himself focused on shooting episodes 5-6.

Certainly, this was the best method to secure even a little stockpile.

As all the shooting for was progressing smoothly like this.

Finally, the day of ’s first broadcast dawned.

I returned home not too late after completing my usual schedule.

It was to catch the live broadcast of .

“I’m home.”

“Second son! You’re back?”

I heard my father’s voice from the kitchen.

Seeing steam rising from a large pot, it seemed the whole chicken soup was ready.

“Yes, I’m back. Whole chicken soup? It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“What do you mean a while? We had it last week too. You said you wanted fried chicken. Do you dislike fried food that much?”

“Fried is good too. But I prefer boiled. I have to eat it at least once a week, you know.”

“Really… How can your taste be exactly the same as mine? Actually, I was craving whole chicken soup today too.”

“I knew it.”

I smiled at my father, who looked pleased.

As mentioned before, my father took great pride in the whole chicken soup restaurant he ran.

Rather, it would be strange if he didn’t have pride.

My father’s whole chicken soup was more delicious than any food I had eaten in my life.

So much so that I really craved it once a week.

The taste of tender chicken thigh meat slightly dipped in special sauce and eaten with white kimchi.

That taste never got old.

It wasn’t just me who felt this way; customers never stopped coming to my father’s shop.

There were so many customers that my father had paid off all of grandfather’s gambling debts with the chicken soup restaurant.

It was when expectations were rising high.

“Don’t just stand there, bring out some soju.”

When I turned my head towards the voice, I saw my brother setting the table.

He had come home like this to watch the first broadcast of together, even though he was busy with his modeling work.

By the way, my brother had started living on his own as soon as I was discharged from the military.

He said he wanted to try living alone.

“Soju. Good. But can you drink, brother? Don’t you have a shoot tomorrow?”

“I moved everything to the afternoon.”

“Perfect. We can see the end of the chicken soup tonight.”

It couldn’t really be called chicken soup without soju.

‘And it’s even better if there are people to enjoy it with.’

So the family busily moved to finish all the settings and sat down at the living room table.

The TV screen was showing that there were 30 seconds left until would air.

“Two sons. Let’s toast before we start. To the success of !”

“Cheers!”

“Cheers…”

I downed the soju in one gulp and tasted the chicken soup broth.

The bitter aftertaste of soju was cleanly erased thanks to the clear and refreshing broth unique to the chicken soup.

Then I heard a vibration sound.

Zing.

Checking my smartphone, it was a notification from a group chat.

It was a room with Goo Kyung-mo and Yang I-deum.

[Kyung-mo][21:59] Is everyone waiting for the first broadcast?

[I-deum][21:59] Of course~ Having chicken and beer!

[Kyung-mo][21:59] Oh! You know what’s up? Fried?

[I-deum][21:59] No, seasoned

[Kyung-mo][21:59] What’s with seasoned? Seasoned?

[I-deum][22:00] What… Seasoned chicken is the truth, you know?

[Kyung-mo][22:00] Hate it

[I-deum][22:00] Si-joon will prefer seasoned too, right? Right?

After thinking for a moment, I honestly replied that I liked chicken soup the most.

[Kyung-mo][22:00] Oh right, I heard Si-joon’s father runs a chicken soup restaurant

[I-deum][22:00] Really? I want to go eat! I like chicken soup too!

Just as I was replying to come anytime, the first broadcast of began.

As practiced thousands of times, I started running after tying my shoelaces.

At the same time, a thrill ran down my spine.

Although it was a short scene, I could see how excellently I had portrayed the role of high school student Shin Han-jae in .

‘Not a single moment of hesitation.’

No, it was beyond what I had imagined.

The first scene of was even better than what I had implemented with the method mask.

I could easily realize the reason.

‘Originally, the first scene of felt a bit overdone in terms of directing effects.’

Before my regression, the actor who replaced An Myung-hyun was constantly criticized for being too old.

Because of that, Director Kang Han-sung had to prepare various directorial devices to hide that aspect.

‘And I analyzed based on these directed scenes.’

So the first scene of implemented with the method mask was a bit flashy and complex.

It was overly decorated with directing effects to emphasize that the high school student Shin Han-jae role was young.

But such directing effects weren’t necessary for the high school student Shin Han-jae role I portrayed.

After all, my physical age was almost the same as the other actors.

So naturally, the directing effects were removed, and thanks to that, the scene was directed more cleanly.

‘It’s simple and precise. So you can read the point of the scene more intuitively.’

From the split screen starting when the blood-covered man begins running, to the scene where he’s finally hit by a truck.

Even amidst the breathtaking tension, the immersion of the drama wasn’t scattered at all.

[With one man’s death….]

[In the alleys of Seongdong, jealousy, anger, despair, fraud, suicide, and murder began to sprout….]

[Until then, I didn’t know what that meant….]

My narration also came out cleanly.

At the same time, my smartphone started ringing busily.

Zing. Zing. Zing. Zing. Zing.

Goo Kyung-mo, Yang I-deum, Seo Myung-hee, Director Kang Han-sung, Writer Jung Su-min, and so on.

All the messages contained congratulations on my debut.

As I was checking each of them and replying, it was then.

“Second son.”

“Yes, father.”

“Congratulations on your debut.”

“…Thank you.”

A debut receiving congratulations like this.

It was something I had never experienced in my previous life.

It felt like something was warmly rising in my chest.

‘Back then, everyone was wary of me. As soon as the first scene started, voices of criticism burst out.’

Come to think of it, I was curious about the viewers’ reactions.

But there was no need to check my smartphone.

My brother, who I thought was quietly watching the drama, was unexpectedly looking at internet reactions.

When our eyes met, my brother slowly opened his mouth.