The Geniuses' Way of Practicing

"Hey. Start dating me instead."

"What? Is that true?"

What?

The atmosphere around the table instantly became dangerous.

Fortunately, they were seated in a partitioned booth and speaking quietly enough that nobody seemed to be looking over, but Chu Se Mi still broke out in a cold sweat.

What is this? A love triangle? Did I just walk into some kind of disaster? This is insane...

"Answer me, Mi Hyeon."

Mi Hyeon...? Ah...

Only then did she remember the rehearsal method they had explained after she joined.

"Noona, we have a practice method we use all the time. We call it the 'Timing Game Etude.'"

"What's that?"

"Outside of actual rehearsal hours, whenever someone starts acting, everyone else jumps in and improvises along with it. It's half game, half practice."

"That sounds fun. Let me join too."

This... is an etude?

She definitely remembered hearing the explanation.

Yet she still hadn't noticed.

It was that natural.

Su Yeon looking exhausted enough to cry.

Yu Myeong sighing as though he'd had enough.

Ryu Shin barging in and making the situation worse.

An etude so natural that she hadn't even recognized it as acting.

"Hyeon Su always looks down on me. The longer I'm with him, the smaller and more pathetic I feel..."

"Haah... this again? You're just being oversensitive."

The irritated "Hyeon Su" glanced toward the man holding her wrist.

Then his tone changed completely.

"I love you so much."

Her eyes trembled.

"I've been too thoughtless. I'm sorry. You know how much I love you, Mi Hyeon."

"I still love you too... but I can't love the person I become when I'm with you..."

"I'm sorry. Just give me one more chance. I'll do better. Please?"

His expression turned impossibly sweet.

As she tried to avoid his gaze, he persistently followed it. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Eventually, he succeeded in capturing her eyes.

The determination she had built up crumbled in an instant.

The desperate face of the man she loved too much.

"Mi Hyeon..."

"I'm sorry, Seong Won. I'm the one who asked for help..."

"You can't do this. It'll only repeat itself. You know that yourself."

"I know... I do know... but..."

She lowered her head.

"I guess I still love him."

A complete little drama had been born in seconds.

Se Mi sat frozen, watching the scene unfold.

"Oh, Noona. Was it surprising because this is your first time seeing it? This is the Timing Game..."

"Ah... yes. I figured it out halfway through."

"Haha. You must've been shocked at first. This is how it works. If you ever want to join in, just slip into the scene naturally. You can even start one yourself."

After giving Se Mi a brief explanation, they immediately began reviewing the etude they had just performed.

"Wasn't Mi Hyeon's emotional shift a little too fast?"

"Ugh... what was I supposed to do when he looked at me like that?"

"And Seong Won's transition into trying to win back his lover was good, but—"

Se Mi couldn't find a way to join the conversation.

This was how geniuses practiced.

People who loved acting so much that they played with it in everyday life.

And somehow transformed even that play into something valuable as training.

It was a method she never could have imagined.

Caught between bewilderment and a sense of alienation, she bit her lip.

 During the final week of February, news broke that Late Goryeo, Early Joseon had surpassed ten million admissions.

"The historical film Late Goryeo, Early Joseon has officially surpassed ten million viewers. This marks only the third time in Korean film history such a milestone has been achieved, doing so on its fifty-ninth day in theaters. Particularly noteworthy is the significant contribution made by repeat viewers. We now go live to reporter Park Ju Hui at a theater where ticket lines continue to stretch around the block. Reporter Park Ju Hui—"

Jeong So Jin firmly pressed the record button.

To keep up with all the developments appearing simultaneously across multiple channels, she and the premium members of the fan café routinely divided up recordings between themselves.

"Yes, this is reporter Park Ju Hui. Standing beside me is an enthusiastic fan who says this is his seventh viewing of Late Goryeo, Early Joseon. Hello."

"Hello."

"What made you watch the movie seven times?"

"I'm a fan of Director Son Chi Uk, so I came on opening day. But the quality was unbelievable. The next day I came back to look for all the hidden foreshadowing. This is a movie you absolutely have to watch at least twice. On the second viewing, the actors' expressions and even the composition of the shots take on completely different meanings."

He spoke with almost manic intensity.

Spittle actually flew onto the camera lens.

But Jeong So Jin only smiled knowingly.

Seven viewings wouldn't even earn you a business card in our fan café, hoho.

"And you know that game, Where's Waldo? Watching it a second time reminded me of that. I started looking for Yu Myeong's extra appearances, and since I have pretty sharp eyes, I found the first ten scenes quickly. The rest were hard, though. Before I knew it, I was already on my seventh viewing. Hahaha."

Hmph. I have the answer sheet.

Good Enter had already provided her with a list of all the crowd scenes Yu Myeong had filmed.

She simply hadn't released it yet because she didn't want the excitement to die down.

The fan café had already confidently identified fourteen appearances. The remaining one was still under debate, with members arguing over whether it was in the military sequence or the street scene.

She watched the arguments with great satisfaction while calculating the perfect timing to reveal the answer.

"As interest in Late Goryeo, Early Joseon continues to rise, Artist Jang Nok Su, which opened only one day later, has also surpassed six million viewers. Industry experts are cautiously predicting a new boom in historical films. This has been reporter Park Ju Hui."

The moment the news ended, So Jin quickly changed channels.

The next program she needed to check was Entertainment Weekly.

[Entertainment Weekly, Star Interview!]

[Today's guest is none other than top actor Oh Do Hyeok. Hello, Mr. Do Hyeok. Please greet our viewers.]

[Hello. I'm actor Oh Do Hyeok.]

A handsome face.

Acting ability worthy of that face.

Oh Do Hyeok was a top-tier actor whose name never disappeared from casting wish lists for films and television dramas.

So Jin liked him as well, so she watched the interview with interest.

Then a new bombshell dropped.

[Your fans have been desperately waiting through your long break. Do you have plans for your next project?]

[Nothing specific yet, but... I recently watched a movie that really impressed me. It made me want to act again for the first time in a while.]

[Oh? May we ask which film?]

[Late Goryeo, Early Joseon. The reinterpretation of history was fascinating, but more than that... I'd really like to act alongside Yu Myeong someday.]

[Ah... Yu Myeong. One of the hottest actors around right now.]

"He's an actor who truly understands acting. Directors, what do you think? How about putting Yu Myeong and me in the same frame? Someone should cast us together."

So Jin's mouth fell open.

She immediately snapped a picture of the television screen and checked whether the recording was still running properly.

Good heavens... the entire world is turning into a festival of content.

She had never been happier.

Moments later, a new post titled [Oh Do Hyeok Sends a Love Call] appeared under the username Bohyeongyangje.

 "A documentary?"

"Yes. The head of KBK's programming division contacted me personally. They want to make a special documentary about you. The theme is something like 'A Young Actor Who Dedicated His Life to Acting.'"

"Oh..."

Yu Myeong looked embarrassed.

He still didn't think of himself as anyone particularly remarkable.

As far as he was concerned, he was simply doing the same thing he had done for fifteen years.

The only difference was that this time, more people happened to watch.

He was happy his projects were succeeding, but he still felt shy whenever people recognized him on the street.

A documentary centered on his life felt incredibly embarrassing.

"You're an actor who appeared out of nowhere and became famous overnight, but you're also surprisingly reluctant to show your face publicly. Public curiosity has reached its peak. From a ratings perspective, it's practically guaranteed success. And from KBK's standpoint, they probably want to remind everyone that they were the first ones to discover you."

"I see..."

"Not interested?"

"It's not that. I've just never really thought about it. What do you think, Team Leader? Should I do it?"

"Honestly? I think it's fine. Right now, people know very little about Yu Myeong as a person. Filling that gap through a serious and favorable medium like a documentary could be very beneficial to your public image."

Yu Seok carefully explained the advantages.

"Also, the timing is excellent."

"...How so?"

"You're working on a play right now."

"Oh."

"The hottest young actor in the country preparing a stage play. That's a great story. It demonstrates sincerity toward acting. Which, in your case, is actually true."

"Hmm..."

"Footage of rehearsals would fit perfectly in a documentary. Since theater isn't particularly commercial, there'd be very little need for broadcast filtering. It would also promote the play."

Yu Myeong's ears perked up.

"If I do this, do you think people might become interested in theater?"

"Very likely. Peter Pan is going to attract enormous attention. Some of that attention will naturally spill over to Theater Company July and theater itself. It might only be temporary, but still."

"Even so... some of those people might discover the appeal of stage acting because of it."

After a moment of thought, Yu Myeong nodded.

"I'll do it. Assuming the others don't object."

Yu Seok knew exactly what Yu Myeong was thinking and smiled.

And so the documentary was approved.

 "I'm not making some token documentary that exists just to flatter a celebrity!"

"Agh, that contrarian bastard. Sometimes you should just do what you're told..."

Director Nam, who oversaw KBK's documentary department, was suffering from a headache while staring at Producer Ban Sun Ho.

This wasn't some major investigative project.

Not a current affairs documentary.

Not an environmental documentary requiring months of preparation.

Just a documentary about an actor.

Conduct a few interviews, assemble some footage, and the ratings were practically guaranteed.

Very little effort.

Enormous rewards.

Unfortunately, the assignment had come down directly from upper management.

And upper management had specifically pointed at Ban Sun Ho and said, "Give it to him."

That was the source of the current disaster.

"Come on. What's the problem? He's genuinely a good actor. You said yourself you enjoyed Late Goryeo, Early Joseon."

"I did. I think he's a great actor. But telling me to make a documentary with the conclusion already decided—'A Young Actor Who Dedicated His Life to Acting'—isn't that just celebrity promotion?"

"They say he's genuinely serious and has a great personality. I even called Producer Bang Hak and checked."

"Bang Hak? You trust that smooth-talking guy? Even if he was like that during the drama, people change. Back then he was a rookie actor. Now he's a ten-million-viewer star at the peak of his career. Do you really think he's the same person? I've seen plenty of rookies catch celebrity syndrome."

Director Nam sighed deeply.

Unfortunately, Ban Sun Ho wasn't entirely wrong.

Projects handed down from above often carried hidden agendas.

Maybe a production company had lobbied for it.

Maybe someone wanted to position that actor for KBK's next drama.

Politics happened all the time.

But if this had truly been that kind of project, there was no way upper management would have assigned it to Ban Sun Ho.

Ban Sun Ho was called the treasure of KBK's documentary division.

His relentless reporting and storytelling produced masterful documentaries.

In particular, he was unrivaled when it came to documentaries about people.

Just as famous was his contrarian tendency to lie down and refuse if he thought a project wasn't worthwhile.

Which meant only one thing.

The director must have believed the assignment was worthy of Ban Sun Ho's talent.

Couldn't the idiot just assume there was a reason and do the job?

Finally, Director Nam played his last card.

"Yu Myeong is preparing a stage play."

"A play? At the exact moment he becomes a ten-million-viewer actor? What's that supposed to be, some kind of publicity stunt?"

"It's not. Apparently he started before Late Goryeo, Early Joseon even premiered. Just go meet him once. If you still think it's a waste of time afterward, I'll reassign the project. Just don't cause any trouble. Come back quietly so I can at least make an excuse."

"Really, Hyung?"

"Call me Director, you bastard."

Honestly, subordinates were the reason people aged.

Director Nam had been an active producer himself only a few years ago.

He was Ban Sun Ho's superior now, but he had once worked in the field alongside him.

They were a pain in the neck.

But they were still his people.

Ban Sun Ho left grinning.

Three days later, he returned with the most serious expression imaginable.

"I'll make this documentary the best work I can, Director."

"...Are you really Ban Sun Ho? What the hell happened?"

Wearing an awkward expression, he began recounting his first meeting with Yu Myeong.