The Face Genius Actor

Episode 045

When I answered the phone, I received congratulatory messages from many people.

Not just me, but the other actors present were in the same situation.

‘It’s only been the first episode… Is it right to receive such congratulations…?’

Certainly, the first broadcast of “I Will Cast Love” was of outstanding quality.

I confirmed that with my own eyes.

I had already watched this drama before my regression.

Even though I had practiced the same scenes dozens of times with the Method Mask, it was still the same.

It was excellent enough to be enjoyable as a drama.

However, the ratings hadn’t even come out yet.

Because of that, I wondered if it was appropriate to receive this level of congratulations.

The other actors had the same reaction.

Their bewildered expressions were evidence of that.

At that moment, Gong Hyung-jun, the only one among us who had been checking community reactions, burst out laughing.

He seemed to know something.

“Why do you all look like that?”

“We’re surprised.”

“Is there anything to be surprised about?”

“Aren’t you surprised by the current situation, senior? We’re receiving incredible congratulations even before the ratings are out.”

“Ah, I see now. You all haven’t seen the community reactions yet. Just a moment. Take a look at this.”

Saying this, Gong Hyung-jun operated his smartphone and invited us to a group chat.

Then he sent a few links with community addresses.

I selected one of them and checked the content of the posts.

Not just me, but others also looked at the links Gong Hyung-jun sent.

After a short while, exclamations began to burst from people’s mouths one by one.

“Ah… So that’s why.”

“It’s all about our drama.”

“Wow. Were people here always this nice?”

“They cried above and below? What does that mean?”

Indeed, the community was filled with talk about our drama.

Community reactions weren’t the measure of a drama’s success.

But it was rare for something to become such a hot topic to this extent.

The best posts board was filled with posts about “I Will Cast Love”.

This happened less than 20 minutes after the drama ended.

‘Moreover, it’s not just one place…’

Gong Hyung-jun proved that this issue wasn’t caused by the unique taste of a single group.

As if to demonstrate this, he posted popular posts from various communities in the group chat.

Looking at that, I could see that “I Will Cast Love” was creating a buzz in almost all communities.

This level of reaction was comparable to dominating the real-time search rankings on search sites in the past.

It was that powerful.

Now I understood why many people sent us congratulatory messages.

Of course, we still had to wait and see the results.

But at this rate, we could expect good ratings.

“Kyaa! The reaction on Linker TV is good too!”

Lee Joo-yeon screamed with joy and said this, and we all checked Linker TV.

Linker TV’s reaction was the most popular platform for clearly gauging a drama’s buzz.

As Joo-yeon said, videos of “I Will Cast Love” were dominating Linker TV from 1st to 5th place.

It was firmly established in the TOP 100.

‘All indicators are proving the success of “I Will Cast Love”…’

At this rate, it seemed we could really look forward to tomorrow’s ratings.

* * *

In a situation where high ratings were expected,

Naturally, the dinner atmosphere after watching the first broadcast could only be good.

Everyone chatted about their impressions of the first episode of “I Will Cast Love”.

It was a first broadcast where it was hard to find any shortcomings.

Because of that, the conversation naturally proceeded in a way of praising each other.

Meanwhile, Park Jun kept bringing out new dishes as if determined to treat his guests well.

“Wow, what’s this? Grilled lobster?”

“Amazing. Park Jun, you know how to cook like this too?”

“As if I did it myself. I just heated and served what I ordered from a catering service.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Please enjoy.”

It wasn’t important that he just heated and served it.

What mattered was that he had ordered food from a catering service in advance.

This showed how much effort Park Jun had put into today’s party.

Indeed, there was a cheerful energy in Park Jun’s hand movements as he transferred the food to plates.

After all the food was served, we started eating in earnest.

It didn’t take long for the meal to turn into a drinking party.

Perhaps because everyone was in a good mood, they quickly got drunk.

The gathering wrapped up at midnight.

“Good work, everyone!”

“Get home safely!”

“Good job today!”

“We ate well and had fun!”

With that, Jung Se-hee, Gong Hyung-jun, Lee Mi-hwa, and Lee Joo-yeon said their goodbyes first.

I also turned to say goodbye to Park Jun.

But seeing Park Jun’s expression, I couldn’t.

“Senior.”

“Yes, Si-joon.”

“Do you have something you want to say to me?”

Originally, I was just going to say goodbye.

But Park Jun’s attitude seemed unusual somehow.

He looked like he kept hesitating as if he had something to say.

“Um… Was it that obvious?”

“A little. If you have something to say, please feel free to say it. Did I do something wrong?”

When I asked this, Park Jun hurriedly waved his hands.

“No. How could Si-joon have done anything wrong? It’s just that what I want to say is…”

“Yes, senior.”

“Instead of calling me senior… would you like to be brothers?”

“Pardon?”

“I mean exactly that. I’ve always thought it would be nice to have a younger brother like Si-joon.”

“Ah…”

“And as we kept acting together, it feels like we match so well… Your face is also the ideal of the younger brother I’ve imagined… So I kept thinking about it more… Should I say I want to get closer?”

Park Jun hesitantly offered a string of explanations that sounded like excuses.

Feeling this might not go well, I quickly answered.

“Yes, that sounds good.”

Hearing my answer, Park Jun briefly looked bewildered.

He didn’t seem to expect that I would accept his proposal so readily.

“Then, I’ll speak casually. Si-joon… No, Si-joon-ah. Is it okay to call you like this?”

I smiled and answered casually.

“Of course, Jun hyung.”

For me, it was a proposal with no downsides.

No, I was rather pleased.

To think that an actor like Park Jun not only thought well of me but wanted to become close on a personal level.

‘After talking, he seems like an even better person than I thought…’

Today was a more enjoyable gathering than expected.

Partly because the quality of “I Will Cast Love” was better than expected.

But more so because we could have deep conversations with people in the same line of work.

If Park Jun hadn’t taken the initiative to create this gathering, it wouldn’t have happened.

I highly appreciated this action, which is why I also wanted to become closer to Park Jun.

‘Acting together was enjoyable too… But for Park Jun to take the initiative like this…’

Considering Park Jun’s reserved personality, I could tell how much courage this took.

That’s why I could accept Park Jun’s proposal even more readily.

After standing there with a blank expression for a while, Park Jun’s lips twitched and he smiled.

“Alright. Then I’ll see you again at the filming site soon. Si-joon-ah. Good work today.”

“Yes, I’ll head in first. Hyung, you worked hard preparing the dinner gathering today too.”

Finally, I exchanged goodbyes with Park Jun.

It was the moment I gained a good older brother.

* * *

It was a day where I gained a lot, not just becoming brothers with Park Jun.

As the lead actors became closer through today’s event, we could expect a synergy effect on set as well.

“Actor! This way!”

As I exited the front door of Park Jun’s house, Yeo Kyung-chan waved and called out like this.

I was about to walk towards the idling vehicle I saw next to him.

That’s when I felt someone approaching from the side.

Turning my head, I saw Gong Hyung-jun and Lee Mi-hwa standing there.

“Oh? Didn’t you two leave first?”

I had to ask this because I had said goodbye to them just earlier.

Gong Hyung-jun grinned and answered.

“We were about to leave, but then we realized we hadn’t thanked Si-joon properly.”

“Thank me?”

“Yes. We heard everything. Thanks to Si-joon stimulating the main male and female leads, our drama was able to make a comeback.”

“Ah…”

“We were actually very worried. Especially Mi-hwa, since she’s close with writer Kim Hee-soo, they talked a lot separately.”

Lee Mi-hwa nodded and continued Gong Hyung-jun’s words.

“The writer didn’t say it, but she was having a really hard time. You know how our job is. It’s not something that ends well just because one person does well.”

“That’s true.”

“So we were half giving up, but then Si-joon changed the acting of the two main leads. The writer was so happy.”

“You misunderstand. I didn’t change anything, they changed themselves.”

“The people involved don’t seem to think so. This is the first time I’ve heard of Park Jun inviting someone to his home like this.”

“…Is that so?”

“It’s not just Jun. Se-hee also talks about Si-joon so much that it’s deafening. Right, Hyung-jun?”

Gong Hyung-jun nodded at Lee Mi-hwa’s question.

“That’s right. That’s why we came to thank Si-joon like this.”

I thought the atmosphere at the dinner was a bit strange.

Park Jun was clearly the host and the main male lead of “I Will Cast Love”, but somehow I felt the attention focused on me.

‘I thought it was just those two thinking that way…’

I was surprised that even others thought the main leads had changed thanks to me.

No, I started to wonder if this kind of development made sense in the first place.

As I was feeling bewildered, Gong Hyung-jun added a final word.

“Si-joon. Thank you again. Let’s promise not to pretend not to know each other if you become famous later.”

* * *

The next day.

The official ratings for the first episode of “I Will Cast Love” were announced.

Surprisingly, the first episode ratings were 10.1%.

Since no one had thought it would exceed 10% in the first episode, it caused another uproar.

My smartphone rang loudly all day as if there was a fire somewhere.

Perhaps thanks to the word of mouth, the second episode ratings rose a bit more, recording 10.9%.

After resting for two days and arriving at the set, the whole atmosphere was festive.

It seemed not only the on-site staff were happy, as even writer Kim Hee-soo had come to the filming site.

A moment later.

People from the production company appeared carrying a cake.

The cake had candles in the shape of the number 10 lit on it.

Writer Kim Hee-soo, with a moved expression, blew out the candles together with Director Kang Han-sung.

‘She must be happy to have washed away the stigma of being a writer who falls short of 2% with just one episode broadcast.’

As if understanding writer Kim Hee-soo’s joy, everyone showered her with cheers and applause without reserve.

The set maintained a party-like atmosphere all morning.

And in the afternoon, filming began in earnest again.

In the afternoon, filming was scheduled for the scene where Kim Won-young and Lim Hee-joo reunite.

This was what I considered the highlight of “I Will Cast Love”.