The Genius Actor Who Brings Misfortune

Translator: Marctempest

Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter 255

Alex looked extremely flustered.

Of course, it wasn't my concern.

“(…Okay, I understand. Could you wait a moment?)”

Realizing I wouldn't speak English no matter what, Alex picked up his phone.

While Alex urgently called someone, Noah stared at me in silence.

Whether he did or not, I honestly didn’t care anymore.

‘What should I do for exercise afterward?’

Should I extend my cardio time today?

Lost in random thoughts, a few minutes passed before a man entered the meeting room.

He flinched at the tense atmosphere and awkwardly introduced himself.

“Hello, I was called here because you needed an interpreter….”

“Yes. Please take a comfortable seat.”

When I asked if he needed something to drink, he hurriedly waved his hand, saying he was fine.

“(So, can I speak now? What I want to say is―.)”

With an interpreter at hand, Alex started speaking in a much more confident manner.

He apologized for the ‘incident’ with Noah, saying his son sincerely regretted it, and so on.

In short, he wanted to pretend it never happened.

“(We’re honestly not racists, you know that, right? Your stylist was my student. I have many Asian students, even black ones.)”

His attitude was so confident, it was hard to believe he was in an apologetic position.

The interpreter, seemingly unaware of the situation, began translating with a belatedly controlled expression.

‘He’s good at interpreting.’

The man’s interpreting skills were quite impressive.

Effective interpretation focuses on accurately conveying the speaker’s intent.

It involves quickly understanding the message and delivering it in the most effective way.

This means that interpreting is more than just translating words.

‘He uses facial expressions well and adjusts intensity smoothly.’

In the industry, performance is a crucial skill.

The man softened Alex’s direct words as much as possible during the interpretation.

He even adopted a polite expression suitable for an apologetic position.

My eyes busily took in the unexpected spectacle.

‘I should ask if he’s free afterward.’

Having read a book on interpretation a few days ago, I had many questions.

The thought of talking to this person made me feel slightly better.

‘I feel bad for him working so hard.’

Unfortunately for him, I understood everything Alex said.

I smiled at the interpreter, who was making the words sound as gentle as possible.

“Thank you for interpreting.”

Alex’s message was simple.

He wanted me to delete the recording since I had come all this way.

The statement about considering the impact on his business was so shameless it was surprising.

‘This is the worst apology I’ve ever heard.’

He had come all this way just to say that.

I sighed, feeling the cost of the flight was wasted.

“Mr. Interpreter, could you tell him that I have no intention of deleting the recording? Also, let him know that because of his son’s expression, I’m even less inclined to do so.”

Alex immediately looked at Noah upon hearing the interpreter’s words.

After hurriedly calming the glaring Noah, Alex awkwardly cleared his throat.

“(You know what I mean. This situation puts me in a very difficult position. Since it already happened, how about ending it here? I’ll make sure you’re not disappointed with the compensation.)”

Alex smiled brightly.

I felt that if I nodded, he would hand over a bag full of money.

‘This is bitter.’

I hadn’t expected a proper apology, but I hadn’t imagined it would be this bad.

In fact, Noah’s actions were more linguistic discrimination than racial.

The U.S. has a strong aversion to foreign languages despite being known as a ‘nation of immigrants.’

‘I already know why they have this aversion.’

If we dig deeply, we could trace it back to World War I.

At that time, the U.S. strictly prohibited the use of non-English languages.

It’s similar to how Koreans were forbidden from using Korean during the Japanese occupation.

That influence might still linger.

However, without even mentioning World War I, Alex and Noah’s aversion to other languages can be explained very simply.

‘Because it’s a language they don’t understand.’

Why would they need another language when they have English, the world’s lingua franca, which they understand?

‘Don’t speak in a language I don’t know! Speak in English! I can’t understand, and it annoys me!’

It was an astonishingly self-centered way of thinking.

‘What should I say to someone like that?’

I tapped the table with my fingers as I pondered.

Would they even understand?

‘No.’

I shook my head involuntarily.

Language is a heritage.

It’s a symbol that reveals a nation’s identity and a tool to preserve its culture.

Learning another language means having exceptional communication skills beyond mere learning ability.

Failing to respect, let alone learn, another language indicates poor communication skills.

Trying to converse with someone who doesn’t know how to communicate?

‘It’s a waste of time.’

Alright. Let’s wrap this up quickly.

After organizing my thoughts neatly, I lifted my head.

“Mr. Interpreter, excuse me for a moment.”

“Yes?”

I stared at the puzzled interpreter and opened my mouth.

“(No compensation is necessary. I won’t be deleting the file. But since you’ve come all this way, I’ll make it clear.)”

The interpreter’s eyes widened momentarily at my fluent English.

I briefly glanced at him apologetically before shifting my gaze to Alex.

“(As long as your son doesn’t cause any more trouble with me, the recording won’t be revealed in the future. I think you can be satisfied with that.)”

“(Wait a moment—)”

“(Don’t waste any more of my time.)”

I cut him off with a bored expression.

“(You want the recording completely deleted. I understand. You don’t want to leave any potential problems for your business, but you also don’t want to reprimand your son in a way that compromises yourself.)”

“(…….)”

“(But trying to kill two birds with one stone is greedy. Whatever you think is your business and your freedom, but whether I delete the recording or not is also my freedom.)”

After coldly expressing that I hoped he wouldn’t come back, I stood up.

Ignoring Alex’s hardened face, I spoke to the interpreter.

“Do you have time after this?”

“Pardon?”

“I have some questions. If you’re busy, you can decline.”

I smiled as harmlessly as possible, worried he might be suspicious.

The man looked quite flustered. Why was that?

‘Maybe because it’s awkward.’

Well, if a stranger asked me if I had time, I’d feel a bit off too.

Fortunately, the interpreter nodded.

“Thank you. Then let’s meet in another meeting room.”

“Okay, sure….”

With a thought that I should apologize later, I opened the door.

Just before leaving the meeting room, I met Noah Patterson’s eyes.

“(…….)”

His glare was filled with disgust and anger.

I barely held back a chuckle.

‘Much better.’

It was far better than the gaze I had received at the party.

Instead of looking at me like a worthless insect, his eyes viewed me as dirty filth.

Fortunately, it was a look I was very familiar with.

‘Let’s not run into each other again.’

Feeling embarrassed for once having lost my temper, I found him laughable.

* * *

[Your fight with Noah Patterson has spread all over Hollywood! They even say Noah went to Korea to apologize to you! LOL. What did you say to him? I’m dying to know.]

“...How does she know about this?”

After checking one of the many emails from Mia, I clicked my tongue.

‘I wish people would mind their own business.’

Why are they so interested in others?

It wasn’t even productive. I really didn’t get it.

‘I won’t reply to this one.’

I sent my first email to Mia about a week after returning to Korea.

I sent it without much thought, just asking how she was, and she replied within five minutes.

Her message included an angry emoji, asking why I had taken so long to contact her.

When she said she had been waiting for my message, I almost replied, ‘Then why didn’t you send it first?’ but erased it at the last moment.

Girls can be a bit... scary.

Mia said everyone was curious about me.

One person at the party had fainted upon realizing that I was the ‘H’ from *Killing Horn*.

She said they didn’t recognize me because my hair wasn’t white.

She also mentioned that her friends wanted to meet me and suggested that we hang out in LA.

[Just to be clear, I’m not asking you out on a date, just to hang out! XD.

P.S.) Are you interested in a minor role in the sitcom I’m in? The director mentioned you today. Let me know what you think.]

After reading the last email, I sighed without realizing it.

“Ha, a sitcom.”

I felt complicated just thinking about telling Team Leader Woo about this.

‘I don’t want to go abroad for a while.’

I knew it was a good opportunity, and I knew CEO Jang wanted me to expand overseas.

I didn’t want to be arrogant or whine about not wanting to work, but…

‘I want to stay in Korea for a few months.’

Thanks to continuous training and review, my English skills were improving.

But naturally, it didn’t feel as familiar as Korean.

‘I only had a few lines in Lily’s music video.’

With enough practice, I could deliver those lines like a native speaker.

But a sitcom was different.

Even a minor role would have more lines than a music video.

I wasn’t yet skilled enough to fully own a character based on English dialogue.

‘I’ll talk to the CEO about it tomorrow.’

Trying to settle my complicated feelings, I prepared to meet Mist.

* * *

The next day, surprisingly, CEO Jang immediately nodded.

“Alright. Let’s postpone your Hollywood debut. Let me know when you feel ready.”

“...Really?”

Is this okay?

I couldn’t believe his response even though I had brought it up.

“You wanted that, right? Then let’s go with a Korean project for your next work. Team Leader Woo, sort through the scripts and bring them to Yeon-jae.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Manager An, keep taking good care of Yeon-jae.”

I stared at CEO Jang as he spoke to Team Leader Woo and Jin-bae hyung.

Sensing my gaze, CEO Jang looked puzzled.

“...What?”

“Is it really okay for me not to go? You wanted me to work abroad.”

He had given a whole speech about how it would elevate my status.

At my words, CEO Jang let out a deflating laugh.

“Did you forget I said I’d let you do what you want? When will you believe me?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you…”

“Since it wasn’t just talk, do as you wish. You seem to do better the less I interfere.”

CEO Jang gestured for me to leave, but then he suddenly stopped with an "Ah," looking awkward.

“It’s a bit embarrassing to say this right after telling you to do whatever you want, but, um… could you pick a more comfortable role this time?”

“A comfortable role?”

“Yeah. Something a bit healing, you know? Not too bleak, something bright. Everyone’s criticizing me for making you do nothing but brutal stuff.”

CEO Jang grumbled, looking aggrieved.

“Pick something bright and healing from a director with a decent track record. Oh, and leave out works by Writer Saengshin. Choose something that looks like it’ll do moderately well and is to your liking.”

“…….”

I searched for the right words but ended up just nodding.

‘This is why I can’t trust him.’

What does he mean by letting me do whatever I want?

Do such scripts even exist?

But two days later, I found myself mumbling as I read through a script.

“...Here it is.”

In a slightly sheepish voice.