An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 71

71. #15 – Between Lead and Supporting Role (4)

I headed to the company again today to focus on practice before the drama filming began.

Chief Kim followed me as I walked to the practice room and said,

“Hee-sung, we have the drama poster shoot next week.”

I burst open the practice room door and replied,

“Time flies.”

“And…”

Chief Kim, who had closed the door and come inside, cautiously began to speak.

I raised my eyebrows, and he held back a sigh before speaking again.

“You know that movie we released.”

I rolled my eyes and nodded.

“The movie?”

“Yeah, there are a ton of articles about it.”

At his words, I frowned deeply.

Chief Kim’s expression didn’t look good.

In other words, there were unpleasant articles.

I quickly opened my phone and clicked on the internet browser.

Then, I searched for the title of the released movie.

Soon, articles poured out.

The articles were being updated more and more as I refreshed the page.

[Was the box office failure of Director Jang Ho-cheol’s movie ‘Became a Genius Salesman’ due to the ‘Jinx’?]

[Even top actor Choi Seo-bin’s performance couldn’t save it, is it because of the ‘Jinx’?]

[…Did the highly anticipated movie accept its box office failure?]

[Why did it fail despite the strong cast…?]

There were no articles with positive titles among the numerous articles.

There might be some good articles that have been released so far, but.

The articles released today were full of negative content from the title onwards.

My expression also began to distort.

“Wow… what is this.”

Chief Kim sighed deeply and shook his head.

“I know. It’s a mess.”

“The ‘Jinx’ story is all about Kang Chan-sung, right?”

The word ‘Jinx’ in some of the article titles.

It was a word that targeted Kang Chan-sung.

Kang Chan-sung is not as big of a star as Choi Seo-bin, but he is still one of the leading actors.

However, most of the movies he has filmed so far have not done well.

So, he had been focusing on dramas for a while before appearing in the movie.

As it became clear that this movie would also not do well, Kang Chan-sung’s jinx resurfaced.

Moreover, Kang Chan-sung was not cast from the beginning but was brought in midway.

The arrows pouring at him were overflowing.

“Yeah, if this movie doesn’t do well, it looks like Kang Chan-sung will take all the blame.”

Chief Kim, who usually didn’t have good feelings towards Kang Chan-sung, clicked his tongue and sighed as if he felt sorry.

It’s the same with dramas and movies.

If it does well, the good atmosphere continues.

But if the results are bad, the arrows are directed at the lead actor.

It’s not just the entertainment industry.

The person who takes responsibility for everything is always the one who is seen externally.

“But it’s only been about 10 days since it was released, shouldn’t we wait a little longer?”

The cumulative number of viewers in the first week was 800,000.

The break-even point is 3.5 million.

I expected that we wouldn’t exceed it, but.

I stubbornly opened my mouth, trying to ignore the articles pouring out about the box office failure.

However, Chief Kim replied firmly.

“No, I talked to the team leader this morning, and it doesn’t seem like it will work out at all.”

I nodded at his words.

The team leader, who has more experience in the company, would have made a more accurate judgment.

Chief Kim scribbled in his diary and continued.

“Usually, the final number of viewers is about twice the number of viewers in the first week.”

The number of viewers in the first week was 800,000.

Multiplying that by 2, it’s 1.6 million.

I let out a sigh at the woefully inadequate number.

“Ah…”

“The number of viewers in the third week is about 90% of the total cumulative number of viewers.”

I rolled my eyes and replied to Chief Kim, who was adding explanations.

“Considering the current situation, we’ll probably get around… 2 million at best?”

He nodded at my words.

“That’s right. Actually, even if a movie is screened for a long time, you can roughly tell the size [of its audience].”

“Haa.”

At my sigh, Chief Kim opened his mouth as if to comfort me.

“If you fail when you’re the lead… the impact will be really big then. Look at Kang Chan-sung. It’s a mess.”

“But Choi Seo-bin is the main lead.”

“That’s true, but it seems like fewer arrows will go to Choi Seo-bin because of Kang Chan-sung’s jinx.”

I shook my head and pulled the drama script towards me.

“I’m the lead in the drama, so I should hurry up and practice the drama.”

“Yeah. Filming will start soon, so let’s focus on practice.”

It was a supporting role, but it was the first movie I had ever taken on.

My heart was full of disappointment at the poor record, but.

There was nothing I could do.

Going on programs for promotion was also the responsibility of the leads.

The movie’s results were already coming out.

I had a good experience.

Based on this, I have to move forward.

And the drama lead role that is right in front of me.

This is what I can do my best at right now.

***

A crowd of buzzing people.

Several lights shone brightly.

On several billboards attached to the wall, movie posters being screened were clearly visible on the LED screen.

Long hair of deep black color.

The hair, which looked frizzy as if the hair was damaged, did not look calmer thanks to the dark color.

“Would you like to accrue points?”

The movie theater employee asked her.

“Yes, I’ll use my number.”

“Yes, please enter your number in the front.”

Click, click.

She entered the number on the keypad without saying a word.

“Is this Ms. Jung Yeo-jin?”

“Yes.”

Jung Yeo-jin, who answered curtly, stared at the poster in her hand with fierce eyes.

Then, the employee handed her the movie ticket and said.

“The movie, ‘Became a Genius Salesman.’ The 4:10 movie is in Hall B, seat E10. Enjoy the show.”

She snatched the movie ticket from the hand of the employee, who was speaking with a bright smile.

Jung Yeo-jin walked quickly towards the theater.

Jung Yeo-jin was sitting and waiting for the movie to start, holding a movie poster and popcorn in her hands.

Then, she munched on the popcorn, staring intently at the movie poster.

Her eyes slowly moved to Choi Seo-bin, Kang Chan-sung, and Jin Hee-sung.

‘There are a lot of handsome guys?’

“Hall B, ‘Became a Genius Salesman,’ you may enter!”

She flinched as if startled by the employee’s voice.

Soon, she jumped up from her seat and headed to Hall B.

Flick-.

The large screen switched to a black screen.

As the ending credits began to roll, the lights in the theater turned on one by one.

Jung Yeo-jin did not get up from her seat even after the movie ended.

Many people rushed out of the theater, but she sat in her seat and stared intently at the ending credits.

Bang.

When all the ending credits had rolled up, the lights turned on brightly, and employees entered the theater to clean.

Only then did she quietly get up from her seat.

The movie poster was tightly clenched in her hand.

Jung Yeo-jin muttered to herself as she left the movie theater.

“His name was… Hee-sung, Jin Hee-sung, right?”

She smiled with a pleased face, recalling Jin Hee-sung’s face as she walked down the street.

Then, she kept giggling.

Arriving home, Jung Yeo-jin quickly opened her laptop and searched for Jin Hee-sung.

The actor who had not left her mind on the way from the movie theater to her house.

Jin Hee-sung’s face kept lingering in Jung Yeo-jin’s eyes.

And she was sure.

That she had become a fan of Jin Hee-sung.

“Jin Hee-sung… He’s so handsome?”

She muttered to herself and started saving Jin Hee-sung’s photos.

Soon, her desktop was plastered with Jin Hee-sung’s photos.

Jung Yeo-jin looked at Jin Hee-sung’s face as if she was satisfied.

After tying up her frizzy hair, she moved to start something in earnest.

‘Jin Hee-sung age’

‘Jin Hee-sung height’

She searched for things about Jin Hee-sung and took out a large piece of paper to write down the related content.

Jung Yeo-jin, who had written down all the simple profiles, swallowed hard.

She rummaged through fan pages to investigate things she was curious about besides the profile.

“Jin Hee-sung… what does he like?”

Her lips were torn as if they were about to reach her ears [a Korean expression for being extremely happy].

She cooled her flushed cheeks with the back of her hand and concentrated on searching.

“Oh my, does our *oppa* [term used by females to refer to older brother or male friend] have a clean private life?”

Jung Yeo-jin continued to look at Jin Hee-sung’s photos and said, as if she was used to talking to herself.

So, the time was approaching midnight.

Jung Yeo-jin did not move from her seat and investigated Jin Hee-sung for a long time.

And she muttered softly with a proud face.

“I don’t think there’s anyone who knows Hee-sung *oppa* better than me now?”

One side of her lip was torn [another expression for a creepy smile].

There was a murderous aura in her opened and closed eyes.

“That he doesn’t have a girlfriend, that’s real, right?”

Jung Yeo-jin opened her mouth again, rolling her eyes.

“But where is Hee-sung *oppa’s* house…?”

***

The screening at the movie theater was almost coming to an end.

The movie was screened only twice a day even in large movie theaters.

And the most important thing, the movie’s performance.

For more than a month, the cumulative number of viewers did not exceed 2 million.

Choi Seo-bin, the lead actor, had never failed to exceed the break-even point, so.

He was very anxious, so he went on many entertainment programs for promotion.

It was the first time he had gone on so many programs.

Every time I turned on the radio when I was moving in the car with Chief Kim, he was on it.

The burden on Choi Seo-bin must have been indescribable.

On the other hand, Kang Chan-sung had become quiet from some point on.

He started going around for promotion with Choi Seo-bin, but from one day he disappeared.

It seemed that he had noticed the arrows pouring at him.

In that way, the number of viewers showed its strength at the end with the strength of Choi Seo-bin, who squeezed out the strength he had been sucking on.

It is still being screened.

But it was already at the 90%, no, 99% point.

The final cumulative number of viewers was 2.74 million.

Choi Seo-bin’s strength brought in many viewers, but.

It was a woefully inadequate number to exceed the break-even point of 3.5 million.

A sigh came out automatically at that number.

The burden on me was not that great.

Because I wasn’t the lead.

But even so, as a supporting actor who appeared in the same movie, I couldn’t help but feel worried and burdened.

It was just less than Choi Seo-bin, the lead actor.

I had suffered for several months, but in the end, it was the ‘number’ that made me cry and laugh.

I was feeling complicated as I looked at the number 2.74 million.

Beep, beep.

The cell phone in my pocket started ringing.

[Caller: Senior Choi Seo-bin]

I was startled by the call from Choi Seo-bin.

The phone rang as if telepathy was working, as I was thinking of him.

“Ahem, ahem.”

I cleared my throat, which had been locked due to the complicated mood, and hurriedly pressed the receive button.

“Yes, senior.”

-Oh, Hee-sung, can you talk?

“Of course.”

-Haa, are you busy today?

I could feel the same feeling as me in his voice.

No, he seemed to be in a worse mood than me.

“No. I don’t have anything special today. Is there something wrong?”

-If you’re not busy, shall we have a drink today?