The Genius Actor Who Brings Misfortune

Translator: Marctempest

Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter 275

You regret talking to me in the first place?

‘What are you talking about?’

I furrowed my brows at the incomprehensible words.

What followed made even less sense.

“To be honest, I feel a bit resentful too.”

“…?”

“I don’t like being like this either. But you know how difficult it is to change your way of thinking.”

What has he been talking about since earlier?

‘I don’t get the context of this conversation.’

After a moment's hesitation, I raised my hand.

“Seo Ji-oh. Sorry to interrupt, but I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”

“No matter how hard I try, I can’t become someone like Sung Lee-jun or Han Ha-ram, Yeon-jae.”

His pale eyes looked straight at me.

“When I approach someone, I think about the benefits. The benefits I’ll gain by getting close to this person and what I’ll have to give back in return.”

“…….”

“I automatically calculate it, even if I don’t want to. I told you last time, didn’t I? That I knew you were the same type as me as soon as I saw you.”

Seo Ji-oh smiled bitterly.

“But recently, I realized we aren’t that similar. For me, benefits are important, but for you, intentions are.”

Benefits and intentions.

Seo Ji-oh said he didn’t realize how different we were at first.

“I thought that even if I hid my intentions when approaching you, you’d find out anyway…. I thought you’d like me better if I was honest. That’s why I said what I did at the beginning.”

“That you wanted to be friends because I was famous?”

“Yes. I knew it wasn’t the best thing to say, but as I told you before, I’m not the best person.”

Seo Ji-oh whispered as if he was talking to himself.

I just stared at him quietly.

“There was a bit of a commotion in the middle, but anyway, you understood, right? I thought it didn’t matter since I got what I wanted. I never regretted it.”

Until now.

I asked again at the slow continuation of his words.

“But now you regret it?”

“Yes.”

“Why suddenly?”

In response to my question, a gentle voice returned.

“I don’t know. Just being around you made me feel that way.”

“…….”

For a moment, I doubted my ears.

He said it so casually that I thought I heard wrong.

I hesitated for a moment and then asked.

“Seo Ji-oh, just to be sure.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you trying to confess to me right now or something?”

I quickly added that I had no prejudice.

“What?”

Seo Ji-oh’s eyes widened for a moment, then he burst into laughter.

“Haha! No!”

Oh, good.

‘Thank goodness.’

His words were so ambiguous that I misunderstood. This guy.

Unaware of my immense relief, Seo Ji-oh was busy laughing.

“I’m going crazy. You really are something else. Haha!”

Seo Ji-oh laughed loudly.

It was a laugh I had never heard from him before.

“How could you think that? What would you have done if I really liked you?”

“I didn’t think that far.”

“Haha! I knew you were quirky, but wow. This is really surprising.”

The usual relaxed smile was nowhere to be seen.

Seo Ji-oh started to laugh so hard that he even shed tears.

I spoke expressionlessly.

“I think it’s time to stop laughing.”

“Sorry, it’s not something I can control. Haha!”

“I asked just in case because you were being so serious. It’s entirely your fault.”

“I know, you’re right. It’s my fault. But Yeon-jae, do you know your ears are really red right now?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Grinding my teeth, I urged him to continue what he was saying.

Despite my frustrated outburst, Seo Ji-oh just kept laughing.

‘He seemed really serious a moment ago.’

The atmosphere had lightened significantly.

On the other hand, I was feeling the worst.

‘…I shouldn’t have asked.’

Seo Ji-oh struggled to contain his laughter as he saw my sour expression.

“Let’s continue where I left off. Ahem, um. Where was I?”

I glared at him.

“The part where you suddenly regretted it.”

“Oh, right. Ha…. Phew! Okay, I’ll really stop laughing now.”

Seo Ji-oh took a deep breath as if trying to calm down.

He exhaled shortly and lifted his head.

Our eyes met at the same time.

“…….”

“…….”

I spoke with a complicated expression.

“Just laugh.”

“Pffft….”

As soon as our eyes met, Seo Ji-oh closed his eyes tightly and started laughing again.

“Sorry, Yeon-jae. This is really, ah.”

He trembled as he laughed.

I became even more perplexed.

*    *    *

“Are you calm now?”

“Yeah….”

I handed Seo Ji-oh a water bottle, and he took it with a tired face.

“I feel like I’ve laughed enough for ten years. Ha.”

“…That’s good.”

“Laughing a lot makes your stomach hurt. It feels like I did an ab workout.”

Seo Ji-oh murmured as he rubbed his belly.

Although he looked somewhat dazed, we didn’t have time to waste.

“So, can you tell me why you changed your mind?”

“Oh, yeah.”

Seo Ji-oh adjusted his posture.

Fortunately, it seemed he didn’t have the energy to laugh anymore.

His expression remained the same even after making eye contact with me.

“After thinking about why I only regret it now, I realized it’s because of the people around you.”

“The people around me?”

“Yeah. Like Sung Lee-jun. Your manager too. They’re all genuinely sincere towards you.”

Seo Ji-oh shrugged.

“At first, I thought it was silly. Sincerity doesn’t really help in any tangible way. But then I noticed your expression changing as you watched them.”

“…….”

“Seeing that, I suddenly thought, since I’m an actor anyway, I could’ve just acted sincere once.”

Even if it got found out later.

Seo Ji-oh muttered quietly.

“I can’t change the fact that I approached you for benefits, but I could’ve pretended otherwise.”

“Well, I would’ve figured it out anyway.”

At my indifferent reply, Seo Ji-oh chuckled weakly.

“Like Noh Bi-hyuk?”

“…….”

“He’s similar to me, but also very different. If I had behaved like Noh Bi-hyuk, would things be different? At least our relationship would be very different from now.”

“Do you not like it as it is now?”

He pondered for a moment before nodding.

“Yeah. It’s not satisfying.”

“……Why?”

After all, you got what you wanted.

He got to shoot a drama through my introduction and audition for Wuyeon Entertainment thanks to my recommendation.

Of course, he succeeded because of his own efforts, but I knew it would’ve taken him much longer to achieve this without my help.

“Do you want better roles or projects?”

Seo Ji-oh shook his head.

“No, that’s fine. It’s just a matter of time now. But our relationship isn’t something that can be fixed by waiting. No matter how well I treat you in the future, there’s a boundary that can never be crossed.”

“…….”

“At first, I thought it would be enough to prove my value to you. I still think so. You’re satisfied talking about movies with me, and I benefit from the opportunities you give me. We both gain a lot.”

Then why?

Seo Ji-oh muttered to himself, looking confused.

“Why can’t I be satisfied now?”

Hearing his voice full of uncertainty, I spoke after some thought.

“Is it because you’ve become sincere?”

“…….”

He slowly nodded.

“Yeah. I think that’s it. There’s no other reason, is there?”

“Probably.”

“Yeah, that must be it.”

Seo Ji-oh slowly looked out the window.

I turned my gaze in that direction too.

A quiet silence surrounded us.

“…….”

We were in a classroom far from the filming location.

The sunlight sparkled as it gathered by the window.

Watching the fragmented light, I spoke first.

“Seo Ji-oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Sorry about what I said about Ha-ram earlier. I crossed a line.”

Seo Ji-oh’s gaze turned to my side profile.

I continued, still facing forward.

“It’s not just about wanting to be famous. I know why you want to be famous.”

Because you told me yourself.

He had confessed that he wanted to make his biological mother, who abandoned him, regret it, and that’s why he wanted to be famous.

And I had said this to him.

‘Thanks for asking first, Yeon-jae. No one knows that I’m waiting for my mom’s contact.’

‘Not even your father?’

‘I don’t bring up my mom at all. My stepmother might get hurt.’

‘Then call me when you want to talk about your mom.’

‘…….’

I vividly remembered his face as he stared at me then.

How he asked blankly why I would go that far.

Replaying that scene in my mind, I said slowly.

“But earlier, I treated you like someone who would use a child to become famous. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay, Yeon-jae.”

Seo Ji-oh smiled faintly.

“I already knew you cared about Han Ha-ram.”

“That’s beside the point. No matter how precious Han Ha-ram is to me, I shouldn’t have said that to you.”

“I gave you a reason to misunderstand. If I hadn’t said what I did at the beginning, you wouldn’t have thought that.”

Considering that his voice was calm despite acknowledging his own fault, I felt even more guilty.

“Seo Ji-oh.”

“Yeah?”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t do that.”

“Do what?”

I turned to look at his eyes filled with curiosity.

“There’s no need for you to be sincere with me.”

“…….”

“As you can see from my behavior just now, I’m not that good of a person.”

I continued speaking calmly.

“There’s a good chance that what you’re missing isn’t me. It’s probably the people around me, who are exceptionally kind and good. That’s what you probably want.”

“Hmm….”

Seo Ji-oh fell into thought.

Just as I was about to give him some space, he suddenly opened his eyes wide.

“No? I’m not particularly envious of that.”

“…….”

His words were so clear and without hesitation.

“They’re too much. Sung Lee-jun is overly nice, Han Ha-ram is too young. None of them match with me. Ugh, especially Noh Bi-hyuk.”

Seo Ji-oh grimaced as if he were seasick.

“Thinking about Noh Bi-hyuk being sincere with me, I don’t feel envious at all. It makes me feel nauseous.”

“…….”

His unfiltered words left me unable to manage my expression for a moment.

As I stared at him awkwardly, Seo Ji-oh shrugged.

“I get what you’re trying to say. You’re apologizing for misunderstanding me, right? I still think I’m responsible, but since you keep apologizing, I’ll accept it.”

“Yeah.”

“But there’s no need for you to conclude what I want on my behalf. I dislike that even more.”

“…Okay.”

I replied quietly.

Seo Ji-oh looked at me and let out a deflated laugh.

“Yeon-jae, do you remember what I said before?”

“What?”

“‘I’m not soft enough to cry or get upset just because you’re not kind.’”

Seo Ji-oh’s voice overlapped with the words from the past.

Seeing my expression, he smiled.

“You remember. Then you must also remember what I said next.”

“…….”

I slowly nodded.

He smiled gently.

“Right. Do that.”

He added that it was enough for now.

I sat beside him, quietly recalling the next words Seo Ji-oh had said back then.

‘So from now on, just be comfortable with me.’

And I answered in my mind.

‘I will.’

Somehow, I felt like I could do that from now on.