Chapter 95: The Price of Actions (2)
After the meeting with Choi Do-hyun, Kim Si-woo dragged his tired body home and collapsed onto the bed.
“I had no idea he went through all that… I’d only heard second-hand how tough it is for unknown actors. Is it really that bad?”
What Choi Do-hyun had described (actors suffering far beyond just living paycheck to paycheck) had felt disturbingly vivid.
Of course, to Kim Si-woo, those actions still seemed reckless.
No matter how much you love your dream, dying for it makes the dream meaningless.
But that was only his personal opinion.
The truth was that the dream of becoming an actor was intoxicating enough to pull countless people in.
And the hardship was simply the price they paid for chasing that dream instead of a normal life.
The saying “mediocre talent makes life the hardest” applied everywhere, but in the arts and sports it was practically a curse.
If someone had no talent at all, they might have treated acting as a hobby from the start.
But that halfway talent (just enough to feel like the dream was within reach) was what kept them suffering.
Then there were people who didn’t even love the job but had overwhelming talent.
Like Hong Soo-yeon.
Before Kim Si-woo taught her, she was just a girl who’d barely graduated high school and knew nothing about acting.
Yet her freakish natural talent, hard work, and looks had catapulted her past people who’d been acting for over a decade.
Some people chase a dream their whole lives and never catch it.
For others, it falls into their lap almost effortlessly.
And no matter what, not everyone can succeed as an actor.
With those tangled thoughts swirling in his head, Kim Si-woo fell asleep.
The next morning, he checked his schedule.
“Meeting Soo-yeon and Yoo-jin today… and I should look into something new.”
At the appointed time, he met Hong Soo-yeon and Lee Yoo-jin at a restaurant near Siwoo Film.
“Soo-yeon-ah, how’s everything lately? Not too exhausting?”
“Huh? No way! I’m making tons of money—it’s great!”
After <Idol> was released, Hong Soo-yeon had officially become the nation’s little sister and shot straight into stardom.
CF offers and talks about her next project never stopped coming.
“Yu-hyun, keep taking good care of her, okay?”
“Yes, boss.”
Even former athlete Chae Yu-hyun was amazed by Hong Soo-yeon’s stamina.
Physical stamina from sports and stamina from work are completely different things.
Maybe because she’d juggled part-time jobs and school since she was young, no schedule seemed to wear her down.
“And Yoo-jin-ah.”
“Yes, Writer-nim.”
“How’s Siwoo Film doing these days? It’s not too hard with so many actors leaving, right?”
“Well… it is tough, but everyone’s doing great, so we’re managing.”
“Should we expand Siwoo Film?”
“…Huh?”
It was the topic Lee Yoo-jin had never dared bring up herself.
Kim Si-woo had never shown any interest in growing the company bigger, so she’d kept quiet.
Hearing it from him first left her stunned.
“Out of nowhere?”
“No, not right now… Let’s talk about it again later.”
“Okay, Writer-nim.”
“Let’s eat.”
He fed all three of them until they were stuffed, then dropped one last line before they parted.
“Oh, by the way, I’m going back to Japan soon. I’ll probably be gone a while again. Don’t overwork yourselves, and call me if anything comes up.”
“What?”
“You’re going again?”
“Have a safe trip, boss.”
Lee Yoo-jin and Hong Soo-yeon were shocked, while Chae Yu-hyun just bowed calmly, unfazed.
The two flustered women remembered how, when he went to Japan the first time, everything ran fine without him… but it had still felt strangely empty.
They’d finally started getting used to him being around again, and now he was leaving for Japan once more.
After Kim Si-woo left, Lee Yoo-jin turned to Hong Soo-yeon.
“Soo-yeon-ah.”
“Yes, unnie.”
“Is there something important in Japan?”
“Uh… Noa-ssi?”
The only reason Hong Soo-yeon could think of Kim Si-woo going back to Japan was Arimura Noa.
Other than Arimura Noa, nothing else came to mind.
“Noa?”
“Yeah… the Japanese actress Arimura Noa.”
“Huh? Wait, how do you even know that Writer-nim knows Arimura Noa?”
“That’s what I’m saying… but it didn’t feel like that kind of vibe… Or maybe he just really liked the Japan trip?”
Only Kim Si-woo and the people at OnlyOne Film knew he was going to Japan for work.
Time passed, and soon it was time for Kim Si-woo to head back to Japan.
“I’ve said goodbye to everyone, so I’ll go and come back if things feel good. Looks like I’ll have a lot to do.”
When he arrived in Japan, the route felt familiar, and he headed straight to the same apartment he’d stayed in before.
After unpacking, he plopped down in front of the TV.
“Hmm…”
He instinctively grabbed the remote and turned on a Japanese drama.
“Nothing beats watching other people’s stuff to recharge ideas.”
From the beginning, his talent had been imitating and transforming what others made.
The more material he had in his head, the better his talent worked, so he always tried to absorb as many works as possible.
Since he was in Japan, he made a list focused on Japanese dramas, movies, and anime.
“Let’s start with this one.”
The drama he picked was one starring Arimura Noa: <30>.
It was a zombie-apocalypse survival story set in a high school.
The title came from the class having exactly 30 students.
His next project was leaning toward the apocalypse genre (zombie, alien, nuclear, pandemic… he hadn’t decided yet).
“Oof… this is way cheesier than I expected.”
He winced at the uniquely Japanese melodramatic moments.
“Is it because it’s an older drama?”
Since <30> wasn’t recent, the cringe felt extra strong. He quickly turned it off.
“Haha… let’s start with anime instead.”
Until the script reading for <The Way a Genius Loves>, he binged an insane amount of apocalypse-themed movies, dramas, and anime.
[TL Note: Changing How a Genius Loves to The Way a Genius Loves]
Arimura Noa, watching him stare at the computer screen all day at home, was genuinely impressed.
“You’re watching again today?”
“Well… they’re all different, so it’s actually fun.”
“Ugh…”
He was consuming dozens of titles, making her head shake in disbelief.
“But does it even stick in your head when you watch that much?”
“Wanna test me?”
“Huh? Then…”
She fired off random questions about a nuclear-apocalypse movie she’d seen before.
Every single answer was correct.
“What kind of sorcery…”
The secret behind Kim Si-woo’s ability to devour so many works in such a short time?
The <skip button>.
A few days earlier.
At first he tried watching leisurely on the TV, but the Korean “fast-forward DNA” kicked in. Frustrated, he moved to the computer.
“I can’t live without the skip button.”
He mashed skip whenever he felt like it.
The shocking part? He still remembered everything perfectly.
If he skipped something important, he’d just rewind, but overall he finished episodes way faster than normal viewers.
Thanks to that, he could watch a 60-minute drama in 20–30 minutes and get through twice as many titles as anyone else.
Arimura Noa was puzzled at first, then outright refused to believe it. So she kept quizzing him on everything he’d watched—and he answered every single question flawlessly.
“Do you always watch videos like that?”
“Pretty much? I’ve been doing it since middle school with anime…”
By now I’ve probably seen over a thousand series.”
“No wonder they say all geniuses are a little weird…”
“Excuse me?”
“Nothing! So, are you ready?”
“Ready for what? I’m just going to sit and listen. Oh, and I’m not doing a self-introduction. I don’t want to create unnecessary hassle.”
“Got it. Then hurry up and get ready.”
At Arimura Noa’s urging, Kim Si-woo changed with a sigh of reluctance.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
He got into her car, and they arrived at OnlyOne Film’s conference room.
The production team, director, and even the company president (Arimura Noa’s father, Arimura Ryōsuke) were already seated.
They all knew Kim Si-woo was the writer from the casting stage, but at his request they had agreed to keep it secret, so they greeted him quietly with just nods and eye contact instead of making a fuss.
“Sitting in the corner feels kinda fresh.”
Kim Si-woo took the seat next to the interpreter among the staff, while Arimura Noa proudly claimed the best spot.
Soon everyone had arrived, right on time.
‘At least no one’s late. That’s nice.’
Before the actual reading began, the usual round of self-introductions started.
‘Japan does the exact same thing.’
Starting with the director, everyone introduced themselves one by one.
Just as the main staff and actors finished and they were about to start the script reading, someone raised a hand.
“Yes, Kirishima-san? Do you have something to say?”
“Um… the writer isn’t coming today?”
“Ah, yes. The writer is unfortunately too busy to attend. But if you have any issues or revisions with the script, feel free to tell me directly.”
“I see… understood.”
The person who asked was none other than the supporting female lead, Kirishima Sumire (Arimura Noa’s counterpart).
‘…Why is she looking for the writer? This feels off.’
Ignoring Kim Si-woo’s growing unease, the reading finally began. The interpreter beside him only whispered which scene they were on—real-time translation would have disturbed the actors.
Kim Si-woo followed along on the Korean script while watching the performances.
‘They’re all really good… but that woman… she’s scarily identical.’
Supporting female lead.
Korean name: Lee Hye-sun.
Japanese name: Kirishima Sumire.
When the translator had asked what to do with character names, Kim Si-woo had casually said,
“Why not just use the actors’ real names?”
His suggestion was enthusiastically adopted, and it applied to leads, supporting roles, and even minor characters.
It was also a small gift to the actors who wanted to raise their profiles with this project.
Thanks to that, every single actor came fully prepared and hungry.
But among them, the one who overlapped the most with her character—in Kim Si-woo’s eyes—was Kirishima Sumire.
Arimura Noa fit well too, but Kirishima Sumire gave him chills every few times.
‘Is her personality actually like that?’
The supporting female lead appeared kind, gentle, and selfless on the outside.
But it was all an act—she was cunning, manipulative, and used her “good girl” image to control public opinion and exploit others.
And Kirishima Sumire was embodying that duality almost too perfectly.
Of course, that’s exactly why she was cast, but Kim Si-woo had never seen an actor with this level of sync fail to blow up.
Kim Ji-hyun, Shim Ji-young, Jung Se-yeon, Park Jun-ho, Park Seung-hwan—every time someone matched a role this well in his works, they hit their absolute peak or enjoyed a massive second prime.
And this time, he was getting that exact same vibe—not from Arimura Noa, but from Kirishima Sumire.
‘If this goes wrong… Noa-ssi might get completely overshadowed.’
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