The Genius Actor Who Brings Misfortune

Translator: Marctempest

Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter 248

Los Angeles in May was sunny and clear.

As I looked at the bright sunlight, I quietly thought.

‘There's a reason everyone wears sunglasses.’

It felt like I might go blind.

‘I thought they wore them to look cool.’

Survival is more important than looking cool.

“The sun is very hot.”

“Yes, it is.”

At least, I didn't suffer much from the heat.

The sweat on Jin-bae hyung’s forehead sparkled in the sunlight.

Just as I was about to wipe his sweat, a familiar face approached.

“(Bambi, hi~. We meet again.)”

“(Hi, Mia.)”

Mia had the same blonde hair and blue eyes as Lily Sweetie.

She was going to play young Lily in the music video and was the same age as me.

“(I watched Killing Horn yesterday, wow, your acting was really good. I was impressed!)”

“(Thanks. I watched the sitcom you were in too.)”

“(Really? That’s embarrassing.)”

Mia was an actress in the American teen sitcom ‘Sunny House.’

I had watched the sitcom to observe her acting, but there wasn't much to gain from it.

‘There was a lot of exaggerated acting.’

Since it was a sitcom, the audience's laughter was added after each character's line, and the dialogue was constantly interrupted.

The show was filled with artificial performances that made it obvious the characters were ‘acting,’ so it was hard to gauge Mia's real acting skills.

‘Well, I’m sure she’ll do fine.’

The problem wasn't Mia, it was me.

‘Will I be able to do well?’

Lily's music video was filled with unfamiliar American culture.

I had to act like I was familiar with American culture, which I had never experienced, having grown up in Korea.

In the story, I appeared as a ‘Korean-American’ who was a well-known figure at school.

So, I couldn't use the excuse that I looked awkward because I was Asian, nor did I want to.

‘I need to do my job properly since I’m getting paid.’

Instead of worrying about whether I could do it well, it was better to practice even once.

What else could I do? I had to do well.

Fortunately, since I had watched almost all the teen movies, the content of the storyboard wasn’t entirely unfamiliar.

“(Oh, Lily's here.)”

Unlike my complicated thoughts, Mia looked very excited.

“(How can someone look so cool? She looks like she's shining.)”

As soon as Lily, the director of the music video, arrived, Mia started hopping around.

Come to think of it, she said she was a fan of Lily.

“(You really seem to like Lily. Since when have you been a fan?)”

I asked without much thought, and Mia frowned.

“(Fan? I’m not just a ‘fan.’ She's my role model.)”

Mia made a V sign with her fingers and bent and straightened them twice.

It was a gesture called ‘air quotes’ in America.

‘Wow, she’s really American.’

I was surprised to see such gestures used in daily life, though I pretended not to be.

Although Sung Lee-jun and Han Ha-ram were also Americans, I had never felt a significant cultural difference with them, so I felt a distinct sense of distance now.

At that moment, Mia pointed to Lily's jacket with her index finger.

“(Oh, look at that jacket! Where do you think she got it?)”

Oh no.

I quickly grabbed Mia's finger and lowered it.

I didn’t even have time to think. My body moved automatically.

“(…?)”

“(……Oh.)”

“(What’s this? What did you just do?)”

Seeing Mia’s bewildered expression, I realized.

Right. This is America.

I awkwardly explained.

“(I got confused for a moment. In Korea, it's not good manners to point at someone older with your finger.)”

“(Really? Why?)”

Seeing Mia’s eyes shine with curiosity, I felt once again.

I’m really Korean to the bone.

‘How do I explain this?’

Should I just say it's in my blood?

Although I had gotten used to speaking English, explaining Eastern etiquette culture in English... it was too difficult.

While I was busy picking out words, a savior appeared.

“(Bambi! Could you come over here for a moment?!)”

Thank goodness.

I signaled an OK to Lily, who was gesturing to me.

“(It looks like the shoot is about to start. Let’s talk later.)”

“(Sure!)”

As I walked away from the brightly smiling Mia, I managed my expression.

‘Ha.’

Would I be able to do well in the shoot?

‘I feel uneasy.’

A cold, indescribable sensation brushed past my back.

*    *    *

To get straight to the point, my premonition was right.

The shoot was going terribly.

“(NG! NG!!)”

At Lily's shout, all the staff stopped moving.

Both Mia and I, who were absorbed in our acting, did the same.

“(…….)”

The studio was filled with silence as Lily angrily threw off her headphones.

“(This is driving me crazy. You’re doing it on purpose, aren’t you?! How many times do I have to say the same thing?!)”

Lily’s voice trembled as she shouted.

Her face was red with anger.

Mia, the source of the repeated NGs, finally spoke up.

“(I’m sorry…)”

Her voice, barely audible, was thick with tears.

“(I really tried to do it well…)”

She was barely holding back her tears, her eyes full of them.

Seeing this, Lily seemed reluctant to get even angrier and took a deep breath.

“(…Let’s take a 10-minute break.)”

As Lily left the studio, Mia, who had been holding back her tears, began to cry.

I watched as the staff rushed over to Mia.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

I took the bottle of water Jin-bae hyung handed me and took a sip.

I wasn't thirsty, probably because I hadn’t done much.

‘This is tough.’

The shoot was a complete mess.

The beginning wasn’t bad.

The music video started with a shot of me smiling in the school hallway.

On the lockers, there was a poster with my face and the slogan, ‘VOTE HIM.’

The setup was that I, a candidate for student body president, was smiling and talking to friends as I passed through the hallway.

Mia was hiding behind the lockers, watching me, and soon our eyes met.

Unlike the frozen Mia, I approached her without hesitation.

‘Hi.’

‘…Hi.’

‘Aren’t we in the same class? What’s your name?’

Mia, bewildered, replied, ‘L-Lily.’ I repeated her name several times as if trying to memorize it.

Then, I gave her a ‘radiant smile like sunshine’ as described in the script.

‘I’ll remember. See you later, Lily.’

‘…’

Mia watched my retreating figure with a dazed expression.

At the same time, the sweet music began.

It was an ordinary conversation. A scene so simple it was almost mundane.

That’s why it was even more challenging.

Because in those short 15 seconds, we had to show that I was the first person the superstar Lily Sweetie fell in love with.

People needed to think, ‘Of course, he’s someone worth falling for.’

Someone everyone would naturally like.

A flawless, universally adored first love.

I had to prove this even before the music started, with just a few lines and a smile.

So, I had practiced countless times in front of the mirror.

From the angle of my lips to the direction of my gaze, even adjusting my voice meticulously.

The problem was that the NGs were happening before the dialogue even began.

The reason for the NGs was Mia.

During the conversation, Mia habitually smiled.

It was the same smile her character often wore in the sitcom.

Naturally, it led to an NG, and Director Lily quietly pointed it out.

But after nearly twenty identical NGs, Lily lost her temper.

Lily probably wanted Mia to portray her younger self more accurately than anyone else.

It was a song about her shining days.

But Mia kept bringing in her sitcom character, so Lily couldn’t help but get angry.

I pondered for a moment before approaching Mia.

When I got closer, the staff around her dispersed.

“(Here, drink this.)”

“(Thanks.)”

Mia took the drink with a gloomy face.

I didn’t say anything special.

After sitting quietly next to her, Mia spoke first.

“(I guess I’m too used to the acting I do in the sitcom. The character I play there is far from love. She prefers talking to herself.)”

The character she played in the sitcom had a distinct, goofy smile.

Her speech and emotions were unpredictable, as if she lived in her own world.

She was a charming character, but very different from an average teenage girl blushing in front of her first love.

“(I’ve been playing her for years, so she just pops out habitually. I don’t know what to do.)”

I understood.

Honestly, it wasn’t professional of her, but it made sense.

The right way to fix it would be to get out of that character, but she knew that already, so there was no need for me to point it out.

“(Then why don’t you try acting like that character has someone she likes?)”

Mia gave a small laugh at my suggestion.

“(She doesn’t like boys. They always call her a weirdo. And honestly, I’m not interested either.)”

Mia wrinkled her nose, saying boys her age were always smelly and used dirty words.

‘I’m a boy your age too, you know.’

I felt a bit awkward.

Despite me feeling awkward, Mia continued to complain before letting out a big sigh.

“(How can I act like I’m looking at someone I like?)”

“(Does it have to be a boy?)”

“(What?)”

Mia quickly turned her head toward me.

I looked at her puzzled face.

“(I mean it. It doesn’t have to be a boy. It doesn’t even have to be a person.)”

“(What are you talking about?)”

“(Your character in the show, she has a cat, right?)”

Although I hadn’t watched every episode, I knew that her character cherished her cat deeply.

It went beyond simply loving a pet; the cat was the only one she felt she could talk to freely.

“(Try acting while thinking of that cat. You can build up from the feeling of affection.)”

Mia looked uncertain.

“(Is that okay? The setting is that I’m looking at a boy I like, but thinking of a cat... that’s not real.)”

Real, huh.

After a brief silence, I gestured behind us with my eyes.

“(Do you see that person?)”

“(Yeah. Isn’t he your manager?)”

“(Yes, and he’s also my family.)”

Mia slowly tilted her head.

“(You two are brothers? You don’t look alike at all.)”

“(Not that kind of family. We don’t share a drop of blood.)”

Perhaps feeling our gaze, Jin-bae hyung looked our way.

I smiled softly as I met his gentle eyes.

“(But I consider him my family.)”

“(……)”

“(Even so, he’s not really family, is he? Now, think about it.)”

How important is what I think?

Even if I consider Jin-bae hyung my family, there will never be a day when the name ‘An Jin-bae’ appears on my family register.

So, does that mean my thoughts are not real?

Sadly, that’s the reality.

The distinction between real and fake, between thought and different reality.

When the confusion from all these becomes overwhelming,

There’s a magical way to get rid of it.

“(You just have to act. At least in the moments when you’re acting, deciding what’s real and what’s fake is entirely up to you. What you think is everything, and in your world, that makes it real.)”

“(……)”

“(Even if you act thinking of your cat, even if it’s true that you don’t have a boy you like, does it matter?)”

As long as the viewers believe it.

“(Make them believe it.)”

I spoke lightly, as if it were no big deal.

“(You can do it. After all, that’s what we do.)”

Blurring the lines between real and fake, reality and thought.

Making everything that once seemed important trivial.

Taking control in that confusing world.

It’s the only thing actors have to do, and the unique privilege they enjoy.

“(What you show becomes real. How about it? Aren’t you curious about how much people will believe you?)”

“(……)”

Mia stared at me blankly at my words, which were mixed with a smile.