Episode 6) #2. Is Being Handsome Everything?
[Breath-Taking Aura (Lv.1) experience increases by 4.7%.]
‘Experience increased?’
Beyond his dazzling bare face, there was yet another skill!
Focusing his gaze on the words Breath-Taking Aura (Lv.1) and thinking ‘explanation,’ a new status window popped up.
[Breath-Taking Aura (Lv.1): Your aura is delivered to others as a strong impression.]
That’s what it did!
‘Ah! The more people I influence, the more my experience seems to rise!’
Yeonho had surprisingly managed to catch on to that much.
‘So it really is the World’s Most Handsome Man Project. Is it helping me look handsome to others?’
Just as expected.
This tremendous stroke of luck was a project to make him the most handsome man in the world.
* * *
The scattered props were put away.
Sweeping, mopping.
The practice room cleaning was finished.
Leaning against the wall of the now thoroughly clean space, Shin Juwon was secretly stealing glances at the handsome high schooler, Yeonho. His gaze was quite sharp.
‘So his looks are a jackpot now too, huh?’
The more he thought about it, the more surprising the boy named Do Yeonho was. To have such acting skills at this age, plus his looks on top of that. This kid was basically a cheat code.
“To commemorate Do Yeonho returning as a handsome man after leaving the drama club! And to commemorate the big cleaning being done!”
Just then, Jeongyeon’s booming voice rang out.
“Sir, buy us chicken! Buy us pizza too!”
Jeongyeon shouted energetically, clutching the cleaning rag tightly.
The atmosphere changed drastically at the guy’s sudden outburst.
“Ooh!”
“Mr. Shin! Pizza! Pizza!”
“Shout it out! Chicken!”
“Me too, I want chicken!”
Thunderous cheers burst out from everywhere.
“Ha, so today’s the day I get fleeced.”
Unexpectedly, Mr. Shin readily agreed.
“All right. To celebrate Yeonho’s return, it’s my treat today. And to help us all bond.”
“Hell yeah!”
“As expected of Mr. Shin!”
“Mr. Shin, you’re so cool! You look especially handsome today!”
“Light is shining from your face, Mr. Shin. You shine brighter than Do Yeonho.”
“Are you punks messing with me?”
Hired as an external instructor, Shin Juwon was the only instructor in charge of the drama club ‘Glory.’ Since he was a part-time external instructor, he didn’t even receive a monthly salary like the actual teachers.
But he wasn’t the type to do the work given to him half-heartedly. As he continued, he found joy and fulfillment in teaching theater, and above all, his heart in dealing with the children was exceptional.
Regardless of his own wallet’s condition, he often had times like this for the kids, and the students, who had no way of knowing their teacher’s circumstances, were simply excited.
* * *
In the end, no compromise could be reached between pizza and chicken. The Glory drama club had no choice but to go eat both. In other words, they went to a place that sold both pizza and chicken.
Among the crowd of nearly twenty people, Mr. Shin was the only one enjoying chimaek.
“Keh, thanks to you guys, I’m having chimaek for the first time in a while.”
The various pizzas and chicken were still steaming hot, and Yeonho devoured a slice of pizza as if inhaling it.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Eat up and stay strong. I’m buying this so you can win next month’s competition. Think of it as a bribe from your teacher.”
But some students, especially the seniors, had an unusual atmosphere about them. They were eating, but far too quiet.
Meanwhile, Jeongyeon and Yeonho—the duo known for being the most oblivious in Glory—were sitting stuck to each other’s side. Normally, boys and girls tended to sit separately because of what others might think.
That sight caught the eye of Kim Seungwoo, a senior and the male lead of this play. The corners of Seungwoo’s eyes curved sharply, but it was too much for the two notoriously oblivious kids to pick up on.
Jeongyeon was constantly chattering something in a small voice only Yeonho could hear.
“Tell me honestly. You got fillers in your nose, right?”
“What’s a filler? I don’t know anything like that.”
“The shape of your eyes changed subtly too. You originally had double eyelids, but something’s different. Ah, I got it. Did you get your eyes cut? Inner corners? Outer corners?”
“I really didn’t do anything like that.”
Even though he definitely hadn’t done anything of the sort, he felt strangely guilty. Perhaps that was why his cheeks flushed red.
‘Noh Jeongyeon, why are you so persistent?!’
Is this what friends are supposed to do, drive people into panic mode? Yeonho swallowed his flustered feelings internally.
Drrrk! Drrrk!
A message arrived at the perfect timing, and the sender was…….
- Hello. We met at the tteokbokki shop in front of the school before…… I’m Jeong Minji. ^^
He had actually received a message from that cute short-haired girl. As if bewitched, both thumbs moved and tapped the phone screen.
- Hello. I’m Do Yeonho.
Suddenly, Jeongyeon stuck close and peered at the phone. Surprise flickered across his eyes for a moment.
“Hm? What’s this?”
“This is my private life.”
“Private life?”
The guy’s expression stiffened, and unfortunately, from an outsider’s perspective, the two of them looked like they were having a fling.
“You guys dating?”
The moment Kim Seungwoo threw out that question, the previously boisterous atmosphere instantly died down. Naturally, everyone’s gaze focused on Yeonho and Jeongyeon.
“D-dating?!”
How could he say that? Yeonho reacted as if he were about to jump out of his seat.
“You’re not dating? Then what are you doing stuck together like that?”
It was a voice laced with sullenness, obvious enough for anyone to notice. Even the famously oblivious duo could pick up on it now.
‘What’s going on?’
His hostility-filled gaze was directed at Yeonho. A situation where he was already hated without even knowing why.
“You punks, hurry up and eat. I’ve got somewhere to be later.”
Shin Juwon tactfully cut off the atmosphere before it could turn awkward. He had already sensed it. That a spirit of jealousy had taken root inside Kim Seungwoo.
‘I treated them to build camaraderie, and this is what happens.’
It was a development completely different from what he had expected.
* * *
After the Glory drama club’s group dinner ended, Shin Juwon really did have somewhere to go.
“But um, sir. Why am I following you……?”
He had gotten on the bus with Mr. Shin in a rush. Sitting side by side in the seats, the two were headed somewhere, but Yeonho had no idea what the destination was.
Drrrk! Drrrk!
Just then, Yeonho’s phone trembled in his pants pocket.
“I sent it, so take a look.”
When he touched the screen, the message Mr. Shin sent popped up in a scroll. When he clicked the link, a map came up? The moment he saw it, Yeonho had to widen his eyes. Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-do. It was a distant place that took about two hours to get to from here in the south of Seoul.
“Don’t tell me I’m going there?”
“Since when are you so perceptive?”
For the first time, he smiled an awkward smile.
“Do you have to go to an academy?”
“No. I don’t go to any academies.”
He was someone with neither interest nor aptitude for studying. Thus, out of conscience, he wasn’t attending any.
“I just need you to help out today for a bit. It might take up to three hours if it drags on. I’ll take responsibility for the payment for your labor. Well, if you say you don’t want to now, I can’t force you. The choice is yours.”
Yeonho had to ask.
“What kind of labor is it?”
“A college senior of mine is a film director. He asked me to bring a fresh-faced kid to appear as an extra? And you, Yeonho, just came to mind. How about it, want to try?”
There was no reason to refuse. Someone who wanted to walk the path of an actor wouldn’t hate visiting a film set.
“I’ll do it! Thank you, sir.”
“The answer jumps out before I even finish? You’re firmly setting your career path in this direction, huh?”
For a moment, his eyes took on a passionate depth.
“Yes, I want to become an actor.”
His eyes, radiating their own unique color, were deep and clear, strangely possessing something that pulled at people’s hearts.
“Do Yeonho.”
A low yet powerful voice. The smile had vanished from Shin Juwon’s face, replaced by a very serious expression. Yeonho had never once had such a conversation with him before, so the sight felt extremely unfamiliar.
“Do you really want to become an actor?”
“Yes, I want to act.”
His voice carried a clear will.
“A senior once told me this. If you want to become an actor but think that it shouldn’t get in the way of your golf or drinking plans, then you don’t really want to become an actor. That’s what he told me. He also said that great actors are gripped by a 24-hour obsession. That they push themselves to their limits like that while acting.”
“Ah…….”
“What do you think? Is it possible to suffer from a 24-hour obsession and over-immerse yourself? To the point of putting aside your personal pleasures, is it possible?”
In a fleeting moment, various thoughts crossed Yeonho’s mind, and the answer was simple.
“Because I like that kind of thing.”
“What?”
“Because acting is the most fun. I think I like it best when I’m immersed in it. Bad emotions can be overwhelming, but even that somehow feels good afterward…….”
Eyes gleaming, Yeonho laid out his dream. It was the first time in his life he had ever told anyone.
The old him could never have done this. Even speaking it, just saying that he had such a desire, he had thought it would only invite someone’s ridicule.
But now it was different. He could say that he had these thoughts, that he dreamed of such a future.
Juwon found himself falling into his student’s dream-filled eyes before he knew it. The feeling of passion that had been sleeping inside him wriggling awake—Yeonho strangely had that gift. The passion for acting that had gone cold and barren was slowly stretching itself and rising again.
The two talked about acting all the way to their destination. Just having one thing in common kept the conversation flowing endlessly, and by the time they arrived in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-do, and got in a taxi, Yeonho was able to receive Mr. Shin’s advice.
“There are two types of people in the world. One type achieves their goals by clinging on tenaciously without being constrained by others’ evaluations. The other type might receive good evaluations and get by well enough, but they fail to seize once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.”
After catching his breath, Mr. Shin continued.
“The reason I’m suddenly saying this is that opportunity can come at any moment in life. Since you never know when it will come, you must always be ready. And you must always strive to approach it first. The part-time job you’ll do today might remain as an insignificant memory, but it could also become a bolt-from-the-blue opportunity. So I hope you approach it sincerely.”
“Sir, I’ll keep that in mind!”
Visiting a filming set as a mere extra, it was greedy to hope for some miraculous event. But if he approached everything with a sincere attitude following Mr. Shin’s advice now, he would surely be able to seize a golden opportunity someday.
The taxi arrived at a campsite.
The sight of large buses and trucks emblazoned with broadcasting company logos was an extremely unfamiliar spectacle to Yeonho.
“People are pouring out of that bus?”
“That’s the bus carrying the team leader and supporting extras. Usually, they gather them all on a bus and bring them here. You came here with me personally.”
Ahead, a housing set fitting for a historical drama was spread out widely. The performers’ costumes likewise allowed one to guess the movie’s setting.
‘Hwarang?’
People who looked his age were walking around fully dressed in Hwarang clothing. There were also people in sanggung and nain outfits, but since there were Hwarang costumes, it could be inferred that this movie was set in the Silla era.
“Why are there so many women? Who brought so many girls?”
“Then should we have the remaining ones play Hwarang instead? Hwarang have to be flower boys anyway, so even women could…….”
“But in close-up shots, don’t the Hwarang need to look like men? If the audience has working eyes, they’ll know whether it’s a woman or a man the moment they see.”
A shaved head, a black sleeveless shirt, and skin tanned to a bronze brown. That man was snapping at the FD.
“Ju hyung!”
“Oh, you’re here?”
When Mr. Shin called out in a friendly voice, the man turned his head and waved.
“Do Yeonho, greet him. This is Director Ju Hyeonguk.”
In his haste, Yeonho bowed deeply.
“Hello.”
But Director Ju’s expression was strange.
The face that had been scrunched up in anger just moments ago had completely slackened.
“Whoa, which agency is this kid from? Who the hell is he?”
Suppressing his bewilderment, he looked at Shin Juwon and asked.
“Nothing like that. I told you. I’m bringing one of my students.”
Yeonho felt another gaze flying toward him. A woman in a nain outfit was staring fixedly at him. But it didn’t end there. The gazes watching him were gradually increasing.
The boys sitting in the shade of a tree dressed as Hwarang, the ladies in their forties and fifties playing sanggung, even the middle-aged men playing nobles—all their gazes were being absorbed by one boy.
The moment he realized that, Yeonho began to panic. It was a moment more nerve-wracking than even the spotlight he had received on his way to school.