The Face Genius Actor

Episode 031

How much time had passed?

The staff member who had been standing dazed finally came to their senses and guided me to my seat.

“Y-You can sit here!”

Other staff members who had been watching the scene started moving again.

I could see some people mouthing, “Unbelievable.”, “Why is he so handsome?”, “He’s probably the best-looking person I’ve seen in real life.”

Ignoring this, I sat in my assigned seat and examined the clean book script.

I could feel glances in my direction, but I was used to it.

As I was thinking about what might have been written in the margins of the script book, Yeo Kyung-chan, who had arrived at the reading room, approached me.

“Actor.”

“Yes, Manager. Did you have a good call?”

“Thanks to you. I’ll be sitting over there.”

Where Yeo Kyung-chan pointed, several chairs were arranged with the label ‘Actor Staff’.

It seemed to be a separate seating area for managers like Yeo Kyung-chan.

Name tags were being attached to each seat one by one.

The script reading room was gradually taking shape.

“Okay. I understand.”

As Yeo Kyung-chan took his seat and more time passed, I started to feel bored.

Then, new people began to arrive at the reading room.

Sensing their presence, I turned my head and saw familiar faces.

They were staff members I had worked with on .

“Oh? Actor Lee Si-joon!”

“You’re here already?”

“As expected of our diligent actor!”

“Kyaa! He’s even more handsome today!”

I had forgotten that there were always staff members who worked with Director Kang Han-sung.

Feeling glad, I exchanged greetings with the staff.

Perhaps because it had been a few months since we last met, I felt even more pleased.

‘It looks like we’ll be able to work happily together in the second half of this year too.’

Just as I was feeling at ease, other actors entered.

I quickly approached them, bowed, and introduced myself.

Naturally, the actors participating in the public script reading were all playing significant roles in “I Will Cast Love”.

For this reason, I recognized every single face.

There was no awkwardness in taking the initiative to bow first.

“Hello! I’m rookie actor Lee Si-joon!”

Fortunately, no one responded as coldly as An Myung-hyun had.

They at least briefly returned the greeting with something like, “Ah, yes. I’m Kim Kyung-jun.”

Some of them recognized me and welcomed me warmly, saying, “Ah, it’s Si-joon. I watched well.”

To think there were actors who remembered me when I had only appeared in one work.

While feeling proud, I tried to appear more humble.

I knew better than anyone that I shouldn’t be content with just this much.

“I also enjoyed watching your movie , senior. I’m a fan.”

On the other hand, I had genuine respect for the actors I was greeting.

I knew better than anyone how difficult it was to consistently build an acting career over a long time.

This cycle of bowing and engaging in light conversation continued.

It was natural, as new people kept coming in.

Among them, I encountered another familiar face.

It was Seo Myung-hee.

I approached Seo Myung-hee, who was greeting someone else.

“Teacher! You’re here?”

“Si-joon! Oh? What’s this today? You’ve come looking so handsome!”

“I put in some effort because it’s a public reading, but I’m regretting it now.”

“Why regret it? You look amazing. Everyone’s been going crazy about how handsome you are since the entrance.”

Seo Myung-hee melted my nervous heart with just a few words.

Just seeing her made me feel much more at ease.

‘That’s right. There are more people on my side here than I thought. So I just need to focus on my acting.’

As the appointed time drew nearer once again, the lead actors made their appearance.

The lead actors definitely had a certain air of composure about them.

I made sure to greet the lead actors as well.

In the midst of this, I encountered yet another familiar face.

Surprisingly, it was Lee Joo-yeon, whom I had met at the Sorisaem theater company.

The one person who had taken my side amidst negative views.

“Senior?”

At the same time, a forgotten memory came to mind.

The fact that even before my regression, Lee Joo-yeon had taken on the role of the third female lead in “I Will Cast Love”.

‘And if it’s the third female lead role…’

She could be considered my counterpart.

To think Lee Joo-yeon would be my counterpart.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t been paying attention to who my counterpart was.

Even when I received the casting offer from Director Kang Han-sung, I had only focused on the fact that I could play the role of Kim Won-young in “I Will Cast Love”.

My mind had been dominated by the thought of appearing in writer Kim Hee-soo’s work no matter what.

As a result, I had forgotten to ask who my counterpart would be.

Even when practicing with the Method Mask, the counterpart was set as a different actor.

This was because the Method Mask added realism to the virtual reality based on my thoughts.

I had vaguely imagined the counterpart actor as someone other than Lee Joo-yeon.

It was natural since I had forgotten that Lee Joo-yeon was appearing in “I Will Cast Love”.

As a result, that image appeared as the counterpart in the Method Mask as well.

For this reason, I hadn’t thought at all that Lee Joo-yeon would be my counterpart until this very moment.

As I was feeling flustered, Lee Joo-yeon recognized me and approached.

“Si-joon! What brings you here? Don’t tell me you’re going to appear in ‘I Will Cast Love’?”

“Yes. I made a connection while working on ‘Arrest’ with Director Kang Han-sung. Have you been well?”

“I’ve been fine. Wow, connections are truly amazing. To think I’d meet you here.”

“I Will Cast Love” could be considered Lee Joo-yeon’s first drama debut.

Although Lee Joo-yeon had occasionally played minor roles in various dramas while belonging to a theater company, it was through “I Will Cast Love” that she really made a name for herself.

This led Lee Joo-yeon to completely give up her theater activities and focus on drama work.

Of course, underlying this decision was a sense of skepticism about her activities with Sorisaem.

“It’s surprising for me too. To meet you here, senior.”

“I know, right? Ah, I really enjoyed watching ‘Arrest’. Your role as high school student Shin Han-jae was spot on, wasn’t it?”

“It was lacking in many ways since it was my debut work. Anyway, thank you for viewing it positively.”

“No, I really liked your performance in ‘Arrest’. I thought you were amazing when you suddenly improved your acting and pulled off the Meursault role, but…”

“Ah.”

“The high school student Shin Han-jae role had a different feel to it. It felt like you had grown even more.”

Lee Joo-yeon poured out words of praise with an excited look, and I felt a bit uncomfortable.

Somehow the praise felt embarrassing, and I didn’t know how to respond.

As I barely managed to scratch my cheek and say thank you, Lee Joo-yeon clapped her hands as if she had just remembered something and asked,

“Ah! So what role did you get in ‘I Will Cast Love’?”

While talking, I had wondered, but it seemed Lee Joo-yeon didn’t know what role I had taken.

‘She probably didn’t wonder about her counterpart for similar reasons as me.’

I quickly opened my mouth to let her know what my role was.

“I’m…”

But before I could finish my answer, someone called out from behind.

“Actor Lee Si-joon.”

When I turned my head, Director Kang Han-sung was standing there.

Not only him, but writer Kim Hee-soo was also present.

“Oh, Actor Lee Joo-yeon is here too.”

Joo-yeon and I naturally continued the conversation with the two of them.

With that, I lost the chance to reveal what my role was.

I had missed the timing.

* * *

After greeting everyone, I returned to my seat.

I felt uneasy about not being able to tell Joo-yeon what role I had taken, but it couldn’t be helped.

It wasn’t a situation where I could bring up the same topic again.

“Si-joon.”

“Yes?”

“Was it Joo-yeon? You seemed to know each other. What’s the story?”

Seo Myung-hee, who was assigned to sit next to me, probably due to the staff’s consideration, asked.

“She’s a senior who helped me in many ways when I was in a small theater company called Sorisaem.”

“Ah, Sorisaem. I think I remember hearing about it before. Didn’t you say you started acting there?”

“I was lucky enough to get the lead role as soon as I joined, which was a memorable experience.”

“I see. Well, it’s good that you know each other. Joo-yeon is playing the role of Lim Hee-joo, after all.”

It did seem like it would be good for working together as the third male and female leads, given that we were already acquainted.

I thought it would be even more so because we had acted together in the past.

However, knowing someone wasn’t always just a good thing.

It felt a bit awkward that I had to act as lovers with Joo-yeon.

‘As a professional, it shouldn’t be a special matter if it’s not special, but…’

I couldn’t help feeling a bit embarrassed.

But I felt there was no need to mention this aspect unnecessarily.

So I replied, “I’m glad that Senior Joo-yeon is my counterpart too,” and moved past the situation.

As I was talking with Seo Myung-hee, Director Kang Han-sung took the microphone.

This meant that the script reading was about to begin in earnest.

“Ah, hello everyone. I’m Kang Han-sung, in charge of directing ‘I Will Cast Love’.”

Director Kang Han-sung briefly introduced himself.

He didn’t say anything more than that.

It seemed he wanted to save time, as there were many people to introduce and many things to do today.

“The first person I’d like to introduce today is the actual protagonist of ‘I Will Cast Love’ and the writer of the script in front of you, Writer Kim Hee-soo. Please give her a big round of applause.”

“Hello, I’m Kim Hee-soo. I look forward to working with you all.”

After Kim Hee-soo was introduced, it was the actors’ turn.

Starting from the most senior actors, the leading actors were introduced in order.

“Actor Jo Yu-chan, who will play the role of Yoon Dae-sung.”

When a name was called like this, the person would stand up, greet everyone, and receive applause from others.

Several actors in the front were welcomed, and finally, it was my turn.

“Actor Lee Si-joon, who will play the role of Kim Won-young.”

Feeling a bit nervous, I stood up from my seat and bowed my head several times, just as others had done.

Somehow this situation felt hectic, but I tried my best to appear as polite as possible.

Clap, clap, clap.

‘This should be enough, right?’

As I was sitting down after receiving applause, 

I noticed Lee Joo-yeon looking at me with a blank expression from across the room.