The Face Genius Actor

Episode 123

The goal wasn’t simply to take one step towards the camera.

Doing so wouldn’t significantly change my appearance in the photo.

Especially if only the face was being photographed, there wouldn’t be much difference before and after taking a step.

The distance might become subtly closer, but this could also be achieved with the camera’s zoom.

However, this was a lookbook shoot, and the full body had to be captured in the photos.

Because of this, I could strike a new pose using my lower body.

That’s why I chose to take one step forward.

The moment I wanted to be captured in the photo was the instant of taking that step.

I hoped the brief process of lifting one foot and placing it back on the ground would be fully captured in the photo.

In a full-body shot.

Fortunately, the photographer seemed to grasp my intention precisely.

It was natural, as I kept moving in sync with the sound of the shutter clicking.

At the same time, Jean-Drulot Meyère also seemed to understand my intention, his eyes wide open.

Jean-Drulot Meyère didn’t seem to have expected me to conduct the shoot in this way.

‘It can’t be helped. He probably had a very static image in mind originally.’

My brother’s decadent beauty emerged from static poses that made him look lost in thought.

It gave the feeling of looking at a ‘thinking still life’, and this was why a deep impression remained after seeing my brother’s photos.

This lookbook shoot was the same.

As the outfits were prepared with my brother in mind as the model, they could only envision static poses.

But I overturned that idea and thought dynamic poses would also suit these outfits.

‘Not everyone will stand still wearing these clothes.’

So I conducted new practice through the Method Mask and was able to achieve decent results.

It seemed others also found my poses not bad.

The evidence was the smile that had appeared on Jean-Drulot Meyère’s lips.

The photographer was also excited and didn’t hold back his praise.

“Good! Very good!”

He even changed the camera settings to continuous shooting to clearly capture the moment I took a step.

How much time had passed?

The first shoot ended, and Jean-Drulot Meyère approached me, clapping.

“Excellent! Really excellent! Si-joon!”

Jean-Drulot Meyère lavished praise as if truly impressed.

I smiled and replied.

“Was it okay?”

“It was great! When you first asked for 15 minutes, I couldn’t understand what you were thinking… So this was the pose you had in mind?”

“Yes. I felt that just imitating my brother’s poses wouldn’t be enough to pull off the outfits 100% perfectly.”

“That’s right. Si-joon, you might have captured 99.9% of Si-hwan’s feel, but reaching 100% is another matter. Honestly, I didn’t expect this level of quality from today’s shoot. I’m amazed.”

Meanwhile, the photographer approached me, and Jean-Drulot Meyère introduced him.

The photographer named Sean Connelly also seemed satisfied with the shoot and didn’t hold back his praise.

* * *

I thought we might have to continue shooting until the next day.

But we were able to finish all the shoots faster than expected.

So I had dinner with Jean-Drulot Meyère and Sean Connelly, and boarded a plane back to Korea as soon as day broke.

Jean-Drulot Meyère filled a whole suitcase with Louis Vuitton outfits as a gift, so I was able to return home with heavy hands.

‘With so much luggage, it feels like I’ve been on a vacation somewhere.’

After returning to Korea, I took a break.

The schedule in France had been longer than I thought.

Meanwhile, news that I had become a Louis Vuitton model spread in Korea, and my father came to my room after hearing the news.

“Oh! My younger son! How did you become a Louis Vuitton model? Didn’t you go to France for a stage greeting?”

“That was the plan, but somehow I ended up doing a lookbook shoot for Louis Vuitton too. It seems my brother had mentioned me.”

“That’s good. It’s nice if you can help each other. I heard Si-hwan is starting a new drama? What was the title again?”

“‘The Formula of Evil’. It seems to be a legal thriller drama.”

My brother’s recent drama “Love in 18” ended with a 9.49% viewership rating.

Although it narrowly missed 10%, it wasn’t a bad result considering it was on cable TV.

And the title of the work he’s appearing in now is “The Formula of Evil”.

As far as I remember, it was a masterpiece that exceeded 10% in ratings.

As such, from my brother’s perspective, it had great potential to be another work marking significant growth.

“I hope it goes well.”

“Yes, I hope so too.”

“By the way, aren’t you starting your next project?”

“I’m looking at scripts as time allows, but I haven’t found anything I like yet.”

“I see. Take your time. You’ve been working hard continuously, so it’s okay to rest a bit.”

“I’ll do that. Are you going out to the store, Dad?”

I asked, seeing my father dressed to go out, and he replied.

“I need to go to the store, but I have to go to the hospital first. It’s my health check-up day today.”

Come to think of it, today was my father’s health check-up day.

“Ah. Then I’ll go out with you.”

“Together? Why?”

“I’m feeling cooped up staying at home all the time. I’ll drive.”

“If you’re offering, I’d be glad. Shall we go out together after a long time?”

So I took the wheel and headed to the university hospital with my father.

My father’s health check-up took quite a long time.

I, knowing the future, wanted a thorough health examination.

I waited for my father’s examination while reading a script I had brought from home.

‘I wonder what will come up this time.’

We had conducted examinations twice a year, in the first and second half, in the same way last year and the year before, but nothing particular had come up.

That was correct in terms of timing.

My father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer three years after my regression point.

‘I hope the results are good… I wonder how it will turn out…’

Even if this result came out well, I planned to double the number of health check-ups this year to about four times.

If we couldn’t detect early signs of pancreatic cancer this year, the problem could become serious.

‘I wish we could find a treatable condition that could prevent pancreatic cancer early on.’

Feeling anxious, I looked towards the examination room my father had entered.

* * *

A while later.

My father’s test results were delivered.

And my father was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis.

The test results showed that frequent drinking had ruined my father’s health.

We conducted an in-depth examination to check if it might be pancreatic cancer, but the result was the same.

My father had acute pancreatitis.

“Acute pancreatitis can develop into pancreatic cancer, but since it’s still mild and not chronic, you should see good results just by controlling your diet. However, to prevent recurrence, avoid alcohol as much as possible even after treatment.”

My father seemed shocked by his health condition.

It seemed even more so because he was someone who always got up for morning exercise the next day no matter how much he drank.

But from my perspective, it was fortunate that we could discover my father’s illness before it worsened.

And on the other hand, I thought that my father’s pancreatic cancer before my regression might have been because of me.

Although my father didn’t show it, he was always saddened by my struggles in my acting career.

And he often consoled himself with alcohol.

Even now he drank frequently, but it was incomparable to the amount before my regression.

‘That’s probably why my father’s condition worsened more quickly.’

Moreover, he didn’t get proper health check-ups during that process, so the possibility was even higher.

But this time, we discovered my father’s illness early, and my father seemed to have become aware of his health.

“I was confident about my health, but acute pancreatitis…”

“We need to be careful from now on.”

“That’s right. It’s a shame, having a drink with you was my only pleasure.”

My father seemed genuinely disappointed about this.

I also enjoyed sharing drinks with my father, so I felt regretful.

But the most important thing was my father’s health, and fortunately, my father quickly found a new hobby.

This was because my brother, after hearing the news, gave an unexpected gift to my father.

“Big son? What’s this?”

“It’s burdock tea.”

“Burdock tea? Why this?”

“I thought it would be good to drink in the morning and evening instead of alcohol. I heard Senior Cindy drinks this these days too.”

Hearing my brother’s words, my father showed curiosity.

“Cindy?”

“Yes.”

My brother recently filmed a pizza commercial with Cindy.

He was added to the pizza commercial that Cindy was originally filming.

This was because the scene in “Love in 18” where my brother ate pizza while crying after a breakup became quite a topic.

It was one of the most memorable scenes from “Love in 18”.

It seemed he had become close with Cindy while filming the pizza commercial and they were in frequent contact.

To think they became close after just one day of filming…

It was a testament to how good Cindy’s social skills were.

“If that’s the case, I should try it. If it’s good, I should introduce it to others too.”

While my father went to the kitchen to brew burdock tea, my brother approached me and spoke.

“You’re staying at home these days, right?”

“Well, mostly.”

“Keep a close eye on Dad. Make sure he’s not drinking again.”

“Surely not… Anyway, I understand. I’ll keep a good watch.”

Certainly, alcohol wasn’t something you could quit easily just because you wanted to.

But fortunately, my father seemed to quickly develop a taste for burdock tea.

Not content with just brewing burdock tea morning and evening, he seemed to have regular burdock tea gatherings with Cindy’s fan club members in Mangwon-dong.

Although there was a downside of dehydration if drunk too much.

As burdock tea was famous for removing toxins from the internal organs, it could be considered a sufficiently good hobby.

It wasn’t for nothing that burdock was called names like ‘treasure of the earth’ or ‘ginseng of the sandy field’.

‘I think we don’t need to worry about Dad anymore. By the way, did Senior Cindy really like burdock tea?’

A few days later.

I happened to have a phone call with Cindy and heard unexpected news.

-What? What do you mean? I’ve never even tried burdock tea in my life?

The story about Cindy drinking burdock tea morning and evening was my brother’s lie to create a new hobby for our father.

* * *

A few days later.

I received an urgent call from Festa Entertainment.

When I answered the phone, I heard Kim Bo-mi’s voice.

-Actor! Don’t be surprised! The Cannes Film Festival has invited “I’m Not a Villain”!

An invitation from the Cannes Film Festival…

It was truly unexpected news.