The Genius Actor Who Brings Misfortune

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter: 44

It had been three days. Three days since I hadn’t met Mist.

Every dawn, I sat blankly on the bed before barely dragging myself out.

Perhaps due to the lack of sleep, my body felt sluggish.

“Actor, are you going to have breakfast?”

“Yes. I’ll eat.”

Fortunately, the principle of the misfortune factor didn’t seem to have changed.

Although I unintentionally missed school on the first day, I couldn’t keep skipping classes.

Yesterday, I woke up at dawn and practiced for three hours.

In fact, I couldn’t concentrate well, so it was probably less than three hours.

Fortunately, perhaps because of that, nothing unusual happened all day.

Still, I reduced my time talking to Noh Bi-hyuk and Park Ha-eun out of anxiety.

When I said I was feeling sick and needed to rest, they agreed and backed off without much fuss.

I couldn’t afford to take any risks, not knowing what accidents might occur.

So today, I woke up 30 minutes earlier than yesterday and practiced.

Though I was tired, the good thing was that practicing gradually made me feel better.

At least, Yu-hyeon’s mental state was much healthier than mine at the moment.

Come to think of it, I should probably change the character I’m practicing soon. What should I do this time?

“Hyung, is there any script left at the company?”

“…Why do you ask?”

“I just want to practice acting.”

Though it wasn’t usual for Manager An Jin-bae to hesitate, I didn’t think much of it.

It was only after I spread jam on toast and took a bite that I realized he was hesitating.

“It’s okay if there isn’t any. I was just asking.”

“Ah… there are plenty of scripts, but I think it would be better for you to rest now rather than practice.”

His stammering words didn’t quite register. I felt somewhat indifferent.

“Yes. I’ll do that.”

“…Are you feeling better now?”

Two days ago, I had been in an utter panic.

Manager An Jin-bae must have been very flustered, but he didn’t push me or rush me.

I only sensed his presence outside the door for several hours, which disappeared only after I sent another text.

The next day, when I woke up and saw the cold food left at the door, my guilt grew.

He hadn’t done anything wrong. In fact, no one had done anything wrong. It was all my fault.

“I feel much better. Thank you for your concern.”

“Not at all. If you ever want to talk, feel free to reach out.”

“I will.”

I nodded slowly, hoping to seem sincere, and stood up.

After brushing off the crumbs from my hands, I got dressed and went out.

The start of another tedious day.

* * *

“Lee Yeon-jae, how’s your body? Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’ve gotten much better.”

“They say a lot of people catch colds during the changing seasons. You’re not catching one, are you?”

“Well… I don’t think so.”

What’s okay about it? The kid seems out of it.

Noh Bi-hyuk clicked his tongue inwardly as he watched Lee Yeon-jae blink slowly.

His response was vague, but his eyes were fierce.

It seemed like he was trying his best not to show it, but there was a precarious feeling about him.

His expression was sharper and more sensitive than yesterday.

“Then get some more rest.”

“Sure.”

That was the end of the conversation.

Noh Bi-hyuk shook his head as he watched Lee Yeon-jae immediately lay his head on the desk.

From a distance, Park Ha-eun, who had been asking how things were today, looked downcast at his definitive reply.

Thus, Lee Yeon-jae spent the whole day in a daze again.

He seemed lost in thought during classes, breaks, and even while eating.

At least today, he was eating. Yesterday, he skipped lunch, saying he wasn’t hungry.

When asked if he wanted something to eat, he just shook his head with a smile.

Though he smiled, his entire body exuded a clear message: ‘Don’t come near me.’

‘He’s like a hedgehog…’

Noh Bi-hyuk glanced at Lee Yeon-jae, who was zoning out.

His dark pupils made him look like the glaring hedgehog meme that once trended on the internet.

Since he had an oddly kind and soft side, seeing him bristling with spikes wasn’t all that bad.

But there had to be a reason. The biggest problem was that nobody knew what it was.

Park Ha-eun suggested that the recent surge in malicious comments might be the cause, but Noh Bi-hyuk shook his head firmly.

He didn’t know everything about Lee Yeon-jae, but he was sure it wasn’t that.

He hardly used his phone, so he probably didn’t even know what comments were being posted. To be precise, he wouldn’t care.

If he was skipping school without a word, something had to be wrong, but nobody knew what it was.

When he contacted Lee Yeon-jae’s manager, whose number was only saved in his phonebook, the only answer he got was that he didn’t know either.

A few minutes after hanging up from the unhelpful call, an unknown number called. It was the celebrity Lee Jung-hyun.

After a few polite exchanges, he asked urgently about how Lee Yeon-jae was doing at school, and if he had confided in him about anything.

Normally, he would have felt elated to be talking to Lee Jung-hyun, but he wasn’t the kind of person to be so heartless in this situation.

The important thing now was figuring out why his friend was mentally checked out.

Noh Bi-hyuk shared everything he knew, and various opinions on solving the problem were exchanged, but no clear answer emerged.

The second call also ended fruitlessly.

“Bi-hyuk, I’m leaving first.”

“Okay, rest well over the weekend.”

Since moving, Lee Yeon-jae’s manager always picked him up after school.

As always, Lee Yeon-jae greeted the black car that arrived on time and turned away without hesitation when told to rest over the weekend.

As he watched, Noh Bi-hyuk suddenly remembered what he had brought that morning and called out urgently.

“Lee Yeon-jae!”

“Yeah?”

“I meant to give you this but forgot.”

Seeing the fatigue and irritation on his face, Noh Bi-hyuk rummaged through his bag even faster.

As soon as he found his target, he quickly placed it in Lee Yeon-jae’s pale hand.

“…? What’s this?”

“You said you like books. Your manager mentioned it. Was he wrong?”

While leaving home that morning, a book on the shelf caught his eye, so he brought it along impulsively.

He didn’t know whose it was, but no one would notice it missing anyway.

Lee Yeon-jae finally replaced his formal smile with a more genuine look of surprise.

He seemed curious about when his manager had spoken to him.

Though he could explain, now wasn’t the time for conversation with the hedgehog.

“I don’t read books, so you take it. You haven’t read it before, right?”

“No, it’s not like that…”

“Then it’s fine. If it’s not your style, don’t read it. Have a good weekend.”

He deliberately turned away first.

As he walked quickly, he glanced back to see Lee Yeon-jae trudging along with the book in one hand.

He watched until Lee Yeon-jae’s weary steps led him into the black car before turning away completely.

“I guess I’ll have to leave him alone over the weekend. This weekend will be boring.”

He used to enjoy calling once a week for trivial chats.

Drawn to his striking appearance and indifferent demeanor, he found Lee Yeon-jae’s resignation to be quite satisfying.

Though he seemed reluctant, he always accepted it, which eventually seemed like a part of his charm.

“Ah, I’m already bored.”

He wanted to help but knew his role was limited.

Whether friend, lover, or family, there’s always a limit to how much you can help someone. Still…

“I hope whatever it is, it gets resolved quickly.”

Noh Bi-hyuk sincerely hoped that whatever was troubling Lee Yeon-jae would be resolved soon.

* * *

“Have sweet dreams, Actor.”

I was about to nod thoughtlessly but paused for a moment.

A few seconds of silence passed, and realizing this, I quickly spoke.

“Yes. You too, have sweet dreams.”

The worry-filled gaze that met my smile made me feel guilty, but I had no energy to respond.

‘Sweet dreams…’

What defines a sweet dream? Though my sleep was short, I was sleeping well.

It’s been so long since I haven’t met Mist in my dreams that I thought, ‘Oh, so this is what sleeping feels like,’ over the past three days.

By that measure, I’m probably still having sweet dreams.

But I know exactly what sweet dreams mean to me now.

‘Enough. It’s over anyway.’

Regret was pointless as it was already over.

Until yesterday, I had a sliver of hope, but now, I had completely let go.

If I hadn’t made such a request to Mist, maybe I could have kept meeting him. I spent the day with that meaningless thought.

Lying in bed, I sighed and got up to turn off the light.

Passing by my desk, the book Noh Bi-hyuk had given me caught my eye.

“Surely, it will happen tonight.”

After staring at the book title that kept catching my eye, I finally looked away.

It’s just another generic self-help book. Noh Bi-hyuk had to give me something like this.

Annoyed, I quickly turned off the light and lay back in bed.

I disliked myself today.

Thinking about how I would feel when I woke up in the morning made me want to stay awake all night.

“…”

But as time passed, the eyes staring blankly at the ceiling gradually lost strength.

The tension in my shoulders eased, and sleepiness naturally crept in.

Today was ending just like this, I thought, as a sense of emptiness washed over me.

“Yeon-jae!”

Just because I hadn’t heard it for three days, the voice I heard felt like it had been ages.

“Yeon-jae? What is this? Why aren’t you opening your eyes?”

Don’t get your hopes up.

I thought quietly with my eyes closed.

It might be a dream.

Yes, it could be a dream, but Mist not appearing in my dream didn’t make sense either.

‘Maybe this Mist is one created in my dream,’ my thoughts were interrupted by Mist lifting my eyelids.

“Hehe! You’re not telling me not to touch you this time? Didn’t you miss me?”

The Mist who lifted my eyelids the first time we met was now smiling brightly.

The child-like clear smile in his eyes slowly hardened and began to waver aimlessly.

“Yeon-jae…, um…”

“….”

“…Why, why are you crying?”

I raised my hand to cover my face. My palm quickly became wet.

The emotions that surged without warning left me unable to do anything.

I clenched my teeth, fearing that I might cry out loud if I relaxed even a little, while sensing Mist’s unsure movements.

He tried hugging me gently, patting my back, and stroking my head just as I had done for him, but everything was clumsy.

So, I laughed.

It wasn’t a dream.