The Genius Actor Who Brings Misfortune

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter: 17

“Yeon-jae! Tomorrow, the misfortune factor will transfer to this person!”

“What?”

I asked back in disbelief.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t believe the misfortune factor would transfer, but the changed appearance of the Mist was that of actor Lee Jung-hyun.

“Am I meeting actor Lee Jung-hyun tomorrow?”

“Seems like it! It’s quite a big accident! They say he’ll get burned all over his body?”

“What?”

I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t help but ask stupidly at the repeated statements.

So, actor Lee Jung-hyun would have a fire accident when he’s with me tomorrow.

This must not happen at all costs.

Instead of watching from the side and preventing it, it’s safer to make sure it doesn’t happen in the first place.

Perhaps reading my mind, Mist’s eyes sparkled as he crept closer.

“Yeon-jae, then you’re acting tomorrow, right?”

“It’s not acting, it’s pretending to be someone else.”

“Isn’t that the same thing! Yay, I get to see your energy again!”

Even though I asked him to be careful with his terminology, Mist was extremely excited to see my energy again after a long time.

“How long has it been! Since you went back to school, right?”

Yes. Since school started, it’s been almost two months.

During winter break, Mist and I tested various methods together.

Since it could cause harm to someone, it was necessary to grasp it as precisely as possible within our limits.

Curiosity number one: Whether there would be an effect if I pretended to be someone else rather than imitating someone specific.

—There was. Whether it was Park Ha-eun or Kim Su-han, if I concentrated to the point of forgetting that I was Lee Yeon-jae, the misfortune factor would fall off.

Number two: Whether the person I imitate has to be a real person.

—It didn’t have to be. When I imitated a drama character, it worked too. Of course, just mimicking one or two lines or expressions of the character wasn’t enough. In other words, whether the person was real or fictional, I had to immerse myself to the point of self-deception.

Number three: How long the misfortune factor needs to stay off my body to prevent any misfortune from happening that day.

—Though not certain, on average, about 1 hour and 27 minutes of mimicking someone else was needed to keep the effect all day.

In other words, if I stayed in my room for about an hour and a half after waking up, pretending to be someone else, I could have a peaceful day.

However, since school started, there wasn’t enough time in the morning.

Pretending to be someone else outside my room was too risky to even consider.

After trying it once and having a personal interview with the principal, I gave up completely.

So, the conclusion was this.

Whether the target is me or someone else, if it’s not a minor accident, even if it means waking up at dawn, start the day pretending to be someone else.

“It’s been too long! Even if I asked you to do it on weekends, you didn’t listen!”

“There’s no helping it. The more I mimic a character, the less time it lasts.”

I summarized it easily, but it was never an easy task.

When I imitated a character, the time it took for the misfortune factor to distinguish whether it was me or not gradually shortened.

If I repeated the same character multiple times, the speed at which the misfortune factor reattached and the tangled flow returned faster.

I wasn’t Lee Jung-hyun to begin with, and I didn’t have the ability to change personalities in a blink.

To fully imitate a character, I had to watch the scenes several times and analyze them, and the mimicking process required considerable mental effort.

Unless it was an accident that absolutely needed to be avoided, there was no need to unnecessarily reduce the remaining times just because I could.

“I want to see it soon! I wish tomorrow would come quickly! Hehe!”

“Sure. And this time, only look at the black stone as much as you can.”

“…Okay!”

Mist, who had been completely relaxed and smiling, slightly stiffened.

Feeling grateful for his hesitant agreement, I deliberately asked again about my energy.

Only then did he return to his happy expression and started his ‘Yeon-jae energy review’ which I had heard at least eight times.

I let Mist’s excited words pass in one ear while thinking about the black stone.

‘The black stone… what could it be?’

Despite my energy being bright, the black stone supposedly made the misfortune factor stick to me.

Mist tried to identify the black stone’s nature several times at my request during the tests.

But no matter how hard he tried, the only answer was that he couldn’t look at the black stone directly, and it felt like he would be sucked in if he stared at it.

It was hard to ask more from someone who was scared, and I felt that repeating it might eventually reveal the cause someday.

For now, avoiding tomorrow’s accident was most important.

I guess I’ll have to imitate someone as soon as I wake up tomorrow.

Who should I be this time? Maybe one of the characters actor Lee Jung-hyun played.

I liked the Ha Chi-hoon role I did last time… Oh, wait.

“Mist.”

“Yeah?”

“So, it’s already fated that I’ll transfer the misfortune factor to actor Lee Jung-hyun tomorrow.”

“Right?”

“Does that mean it was destined for me to meet actor Lee Jung-hyun tomorrow?”

“…? Aren’t those the same thing?”

Mist looked at me as if wondering why I was stating the obvious.

Yes, it was obvious that I had to meet him to transfer the misfortune factor, but… was this really obvious?

“So, are you saying that even if I hadn’t met you, I would still have appeared in the drama?”

The only reason I could appear in the drama was that I met Mist and learned about the possibility of avoiding misfortune.

It was impossible for the ignorant me to have done so. I furrowed my brows in confusion.

Feeling frustrated, I was about to ask something else but stopped when I saw Mist’s face, still looking puzzled about what I was saying.

He wouldn’t know anyway.

“Yes. The important thing is to handle it well starting tomorrow.”

“Right! Hehe, I can’t wait to see your energy!”

Mist couldn’t stay still and kept hopping around excitedly.

At least he was happy….

* * *

“Our genius actor, how have you been?”

As I left the orphanage, I saw a huge van that looked like it could fit eight adults.

Actor Lee Jung-hyun lowered the window and gestured for me to get in.

How could he keep calling me a genius actor?

“If you keep calling me that, I’ll stop calling you hyung.”

“…! Wow, if you do that, sniff, hyung would be so sad. Hm. Just thinking about it makes me upset.”

I regretted saying anything as soon as the words left my mouth. I should’ve just kept quiet.

Seeing his face that seemed to say, ‘Is that supposed to be a threat? Unbelievable,’ I felt a sudden wave of ‘reality check.’

I quietly fastened my seatbelt, watching him smile more broadly without any impact.

“How long has it been since we last saw each other?”

“Since the second shoot, so almost four months. Did you finish filming?”

“Yes, next week is already the last episode. Time flies.”

It had been a month and a half since the first episode of ‘Tail: Tracing the Trail’ aired.

Though we kept in touch regularly, this was the third time I was seeing actor Lee Jung-hyun.

If Mist hadn’t warned me in advance, I would have frozen in shock when I received the call asking if I could come out in front of the orphanage.

“Sorry for dropping by suddenly. I had a schedule today, but it got canceled.”

“No problem. Aren’t you busy? Don’t you need to rest?”

“Being with you is resting. And I made a promise. I have to keep it.”

Though I was curious about what promise he was referring to, I let it slide since I was already out.

Just in case, I had been mimicking someone else for over two hours since morning, so I was feeling a bit tired.

Following actor Lee Jung-hyun, I arrived at a rice cake shop… honestly, it was so delicious it surprised me.

The first thing that came out was a rice cake cake topped with blueberries. I put it in my mouth without much thought and my eyes widened.

It felt fluffy and melted in my mouth.

It didn’t feel like rice cake, but more like cotton candy.

I expected actor Lee Jung-hyun to tease me for being surprised, but he just smiled.

“How is it? Delicious?”

“Yes. It’s very delicious.”

“Let’s pack some before we leave. Share it with the teachers.”

Before I could say anything, he added, “By the way, I already paid for it.”

When I thanked him, he silently laughed and sipped his coffee.

He seemed tired from being busy lately; his energy level was definitely lower than when we last met.

Watching me empty plate after plate, he finally spoke after putting down his fork.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it. I really wanted to buy it for you because I’m grateful.”

“Grateful?”

“The first episode got such a great response thanks to you. I think it helped the drama do better. I was a bit nervous since it’s been a while since my last drama.”

“Oh, your last drama was ‘Special Task Force,’ where you played Ha Chi-hoon, right?”

“What? You know that?”

His quiet voice suddenly grew louder.

Watching his eyes, which had been a bit droopy, become lively, I nodded obediently.

“Yes. My phone came with movies and dramas on it. I watched them all during the break.”

“You even watched it? Wow… I’m touched.”

Did he completely forget that he bought me the phone and even pays the monthly bill?

Seeing how moved he was just because I watched a drama felt a bit awkward.

“You were really good at acting. I was impressed watching it.”

“Haha, thanks. Are you looking for anything for your next project? Something you want to do?”

“What? No. I’m not going to act.”

“What?”

Was that something to be so shocked about?

Actor Lee Jung-hyun, expressing his shock with all his facial features, even stuttered his words.

“Wh-why? Suddenly? Is there a reason?”

“It’s not sudden… I never intended to act in the first place. This time was just a coincidence, and I’ve never learned acting.”

“No….”

Actor Lee Jung-hyun couldn’t speak for a while, then barely managed to smile before he spoke again.

“Then why don’t you try learning acting now? Want to attend an academy? Don’t worry about the cost. I’ll pay for it.”

“……”

“If you’re okay with it, I can teach you myself. I’m free now. I live alone, so I can teach you at home.”

I looked at actor Lee Jung-hyun, smiling with a facade of casualness, feeling a bit astonished.

What is he… seriously, could it be what I think?

Although it was a topic I wanted to avoid, I felt it was better to address it at this point.

“Hyung, I have something I want to ask you.”

“Yeah?”

“I want to ask in a different way, but I’m not good at these things. You might feel uncomfortable… I apologize in advance.”

“…? Sure. It’s okay, just ask.”

Watching actor Lee Jung-hyun’s soft smile and eyes, I slowly opened my mouth.

“Hyung, do you have any interest in me?”