The Genius Actor Who Brings Misfortune

Chapter 155

I sighed as I watched the furrowed brows that seemed to ask what nonsense I was talking about.

Carefully choosing my words in English, I opened my mouth.

“(Speak slowly. I’m not good at English, so it’s hard to communicate.)”

“(Huh, ridiculous. Aren’t you ashamed of winning that award when you can’t even speak English?)”

What did not being able to speak English have to do with winning an award?

As I stared blankly, not understanding the connection, the guy seemed even more annoyed by my reaction and huffed.

He started spitting out words rapidly, half of which I couldn’t understand. I told him to speak slowly.

I wondered if he just wanted to pick a fight with someone, so I listened quietly for a while.

The guy’s face turned red as he continued his rant and eventually shouted,

“(Why aren’t you saying anything!)”

You mocked me for not being able to speak English.

I sighed, wondering what he wanted from me.

“(I told you. I’m not good at English. I can’t understand if you talk so fast.)”

“(I wasn’t even rapping, and you can’t understand this? If that’s the case, there’s something wrong with your ears. Do you really think you deserve that award?)”

Why did he keep mentioning the award at the end of every sentence?

‘Does he want the trophy?’

I was honestly tempted to just give it to him because it was bothersome.

But then I remembered that I had to take a commemorative photo with the trophy in front of the reporters when I returned to Korea, so I refrained.

‘Ah, I’m tired.’

I had no more energy to deal with him.

Whether I responded or not, the guy’s rant continued endlessly.

“(Don’t be mistaken. Honestly, someone else should have won it instead of you.)”

So I said just one thing.

“(Are you a racist?)”

“(…! What, what are you saying! What nonsense is that!)”

His voice, which had been relatively calm until now, suddenly got louder.

“(You’ve been mocking me for not speaking English since earlier. Are you discriminating against me because I’m Asian?)”

“(Mocking you for not speaking English is different from racial discrimination! Take back what you said right now!)”

The guy went wild as if he’d been unbearably insulted.

‘Interesting.’

I’d heard that if a foreigner picked a fight, I should just call them a racist. It really worked instantly.

Anyway, it was really time to say goodbye.

I frowned and asked,

“(Where do you think you are right now?)”

“(What?)”

“(I asked, where do you think you are.)”

When I asked, unable to hide my annoyance, he flinched.

“(What are you talking about?)”

“(This is France. I could understand if you complained about not speaking French. Your English and my Korean are both foreign languages here.)”

Of course, I knew English was the global common language, but still, this was France.

Why were we, both foreigners, causing such a fuss?

There were so many things I wanted to say, but the language barrier made it hard to speak fluently.

‘This is why people need to study.’

I wanted to speak English better than ever before.

“(You, you—.)”

As I looked at him with disdain, he seemed about to snap and lunged at me.

At the same time, Jin-bae hyung stepped in front of me.

Suddenly, all I could see was the black of his suit.

Though it felt a bit surreal, I realized just how big he really was.

“(Step back.)”

“(Who are you?!)”

“(…….)”

Jin-bae hyung said nothing.

Silence followed.

I couldn’t see anything, but I heard the sound.

The sound of the carpet shifting as the guy took a step back.

‘What kind of expression is he making?’

As I wondered about Jin-bae hyung’s expression, a new voice appeared.

“(Ah, I was wondering where our troublemaker went. What are you doing here?)”

“(Dad!!)”

The guy ran straight to the newcomer.

The new voice belonged to an adult male with the same blond hair and blue eyes as the guy.

And he looked familiar.

“(Oh? It’s Cutie Boy?)”

“(…….)”

The man was the foreigner I had seen at the stylist’s office.

I couldn’t believe it.

Wow, could this situation get any more tiring?

* * *

“(This is my son, ‘Noah.’ It seems you two have already met.)”

Yeah, we’ve had more than enough of an introduction.

As I looked at the guy without saying a word, he hid behind his father.

I greeted the man first.

“(Hello. Long time no see.)”

“(Oh. It seems you’ve learned some English. You sound better than in your native language. How about we continue in English?)”

“(…….)”

It was now clear that the guy had learned this from his father. I finally understood.

As I silently watched, the man smiled.

“(I told you before, my son is your fan. Can you give him an autograph?)”

“(…! Dad!!)”

The guy’s face turned pale instantly.

“(Huh? Why?)”

“(Be quiet! Why would I be a fan of his!)”

“(What are you talking about, Noah? You’ve been watching dramas with Cutie Boy for months. You didn’t even sleep after watching Twins—.)”

“(Stop it! Hey! Don’t believe anything he says! He’s lying!)”

Okay, I get it, but please stop shouting.

My ears felt like they were going to bleed.

Meanwhile, the kid, Noah or whatever, kept screaming, making my head throb.

“(…Anyway, it was nice meeting you. I’ll be going now.)”

There was no need to be polite to rude people anymore.

As I grabbed the end of Jin-bae hyung’s suit, a large hand immediately wrapped around my back.

They tried to say more from behind, but I ignored them and walked into the room.

“Are you okay, sir?”

“No.”

I was too exhausted. As I pressed my temples, Jin-bae hyung patted my shoulder.

“I’ll give you a massage after you shower.”

“Okay….”

I trudged into the bathroom.

Even washing with hot water didn’t make me feel any better, only dirtier.

‘Why are there so many rude people?’

The unpleasant feeling didn’t go away easily.

Not wanting to ruin Jin-bae hyung’s mood because of me, I stayed in the bathroom for a long time.

‘Let’s try not to show it.’

When I thought I had calmed down a bit, I took a deep breath and opened the door.

As I entered the room, I saw something that wasn’t real.

“Our genius actor~! Great job.”

I must be really tired.

I was hallucinating that Jeong-hyun hyung was sitting on the bed.

Ignoring it, I started to organize my clothes, but a surprised voice interrupted.

“Yeon-jae?”

“…?”

What the heck.

When I turned my head again, Jeong-hyun hyung was still there.

I rubbed my eyes hard.

“Oh, don’t rub your eyes so hard. You’ll hurt them. What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

“…Is it really you, hyung?”

“Ha, were you expecting someone else?”

I stared at the gentle curve of his eyes and took a step closer.

As I approached and reached out my hand, I felt the solid body. It was real.

“No…, why are you here, hyung?”

It still didn’t feel real.

Barely managing to ask, he laughed and whined that I was too much.

“I flew 13 hours just to see you, and that’s all the reaction I get?”

“Ah… sorry.”

“Just kidding. You’ve gotten a lot more worn out since I last saw you. Jin-bae told me you met some weird people in the hallway earlier?”

His gentle hand stroked my head.

After standing still for a while, I asked again.

“Is it really you, hyung?”

“…Huh?”

He paused for a moment and then laughed, cupping my cheek.

“Yeah. It’s really me, Jeong-hyun hyung.”

“…….”

“I really wanted to see you. Didn’t you want to see me?”

To his playful question, I slowly opened my mouth.

“Of course… I missed you.”

How could he even ask that?

But really, how did such a busy person come here?

“Hyung, you’re busy with filming right now.”

“Yeah. I suddenly had two days off because of a cancellation. As soon as I heard, I got on the plane.”

It took more than a day to travel back and forth from Korea to France.

He spent half of his precious break just to come see me?

I was dumbfounded, and he grabbed my face.

His soft eyes met mine.

“Congratulations on winning Best Actor, Yeon-jae.”

“…….”

“Jin-bae went out to get some lemonade. He’ll be back soon. It’s a bit small, but let’s have a party—ugh.”

He groaned and stopped talking because I had rushed into his arms.

Surprised at first, he soon laughed and hugged me back.

“Our Yeon-jae, you’ve really grown since we first met. You fit perfectly in my arms now.”

“I wasn’t that short back then either.”

“Of course~ I know. Our Yeon-jae is the tallest.”

His tone was like coaxing a child, which was ridiculous.

So this laugh must have been a scoff.

The corners of my mouth, freed from control, kept rising endlessly

.

“Just wait a bit. I’ll be taller than you, hyung.”

“Hmm~ I’d rather you grow slowly.”

His voice sounded genuinely regretful, so I asked how tall he was.

“Me? Probably 187 cm?”

“…….”

When he said he couldn’t remember because it had been so long since he measured, I quietly closed my mouth.

‘I’ve got a long way to go.’

Why were there only tall people around me?

Even jokingly, it was hard to say I’d be taller than him.

When I said nothing, Jeong-hyun hyung laughed as if it was funny.

Every time he laughed, our touching bodies trembled finely.

The vibration was comforting.

* * *

“What? Are you crazy?”

Director Yoon shouted with a grim face.

Fortunately, Jin-bae hyung covered my ears just in time, so it wasn’t too loud.

Director Yoon’s tantrum, which started like that, continued for a while.

“Foreigners are really arrogant. I saw all sorts of things at the party yesterday. There are just too many rude people in this world.”

“Director, calm down and finish your meal.”

“How can I calm down?! How did you hold back when you heard that? What? You shouldn’t have won the award? Who says something like that to someone they’ve just met?”

I quietly spoke as I watched Director Yoon yelling.

“It was still better than asking about being abandoned by my parents on the first meeting.”

“…….”

Director Yoon quietly picked up his spoon.

Thanks to that, we finally had a peaceful breakfast.

“……Sorry.”

After a long time, Director Yoon muttered.

“No. I’m sorry for bringing it up again.”

“Don’t say that. No matter how many times you mention it, I have nothing to say….”

It wasn’t that serious.

I smiled faintly as I watched him stirring his soup with a pale face.

“Okay. But really, you don’t need to apologize anymore.”

I should change the subject.

“If you had come a bit earlier, you could have met Jeong-hyun hyung too.”

“I drank too much yesterday and took a long time to recover. Honestly, I still have a hangover.”

Jeong-hyun hyung left as soon as the sun rose because of his flight schedule.

It was a short time, but talking with Jin-bae hyung and him made the unpleasant feelings disappear.

After finishing the meal with Director Yoon, I stayed in the room the whole time.

I was worried that I might run into rude people again if I went outside.

“Sir, the car is waiting in the lobby.”

“Yes.”

As soon as Jin-bae hyung spoke, I stood up immediately.

I had dressed up a long time ago.

‘Finally going back to Korea.’

To be honest, I felt like I was going crazy wanting to go home.

I was sick of seeing strangers and unfamiliar places.

I worried about running into the people I saw yesterday, but fortunately, I got on the plane without any trouble.

I slowly looked out the window as the plane took off.

It was the end of the long Cannes Film Festival.

* * *

By the time Lee Yeon-jae forgot that he had even won the award, Korea was in an uproar.