Gentle Visual Acting Genius Chapter 13 - Tofu in the Flower Garden

#Tofu in the Flower Garden

 

Villain roles and stunt acting are more closely linked than people think.

 

Most villains end up taking drastic action to interfere with the kind hearted protagonist or to bring them harm, and the simplest method is almost always violence.

 

In addition, isn’t the exit of a villain also dramatic?

 

Unless it’s a comedy where they always fly up to the sky like Team Rocket from Pokemon and appear again someday, they are bound to meet an end that matches the weight of their evil deeds.

 

That’s why actors who specialize in playing villains tend to experience a wide array of action sequences and stunts in order to show truly dramatic, diverse, and numerous deaths.

 

In his previous life, Woohyun was known for leaving a legacy as one of those very actors, and he proudly owned that title.

 

He was someone who had mastered such experiences.

 

Even acting out a scene where his entire body was engulfed in flames, writhing in pain before dying, was part of those experiences. 

 

These days, there are all sorts of stunt equipment and safety technology that allow actors to actually set themselves on fire without feeling any real heat or pain for a few seconds, so there was no reason to be afraid.

 

However, that only applies to Woohyun, who remembers all of his past lives.

 

To everyone else, he was a rookie actor who had only debuted for less than half a year. An actor whose visuals are as great as his acting skills.

 

So when such an actor declares they would be performing a fire stunt that could leave permanent scars, it wasn’t him who was afraid, it was everyone around him who started panicking.

 

“No matter how advanced the technology is these days, it can’t be more than 5 seconds. After you walk out of the burning church wreckage, we’ll do a face close-up and then put the flames out right away. If it gets too hot, you have to say something. Got it?”

 

Director Jang Hangyeol had triple-checked every safety measure to prevent the worst from happening.

 

He kept coming back to give Woohyun  a word of advice every ten minutes like a worried parent before heading back on set. The sight was both touching and kind of funny, but since he couldn’t risk ruining the special makeup, Woohyun held in his laughter and stared at his reflection in the mirror.

 

The right side of his face was now covered in gruesome burn scars so realistic that anyone seeing it for the first time might scream on instinct.

 

A face so horrible that it reminded him of the villain Two-Face from the movie <The Dark Knight>.

 

The special effects makeup had taken six hours to complete.

 

Due to an unexpected scene change, all the staff and cast were scrambling to reorganize the set and update the blocking.

 

The filming which had started early in the evening, had now stretched well past midnight.

 

“It feels like I’m committing a grave sin by putting this kind of makeup on such a handsome face,” the makeup artist jokes.

 

“I’ll make sure to act so perfectly that you won’t feel guilty at all,” Woohyun replied with a grin.

 

Not long after that light exchange, Woohyun and the entire crew were finally ready.

 

“Alright, fire it up again! Let’s shoot the Saint’s final scene! Start with a full shot and zoom straight into a bust!”

 

Director Jang’s cue echoed across the set, followed by the loud clack of the slateboard.

 

Flames began to rise again, climbing up the church ruins. The heat rippled outward in waves.

 

The situation was not much different from the previous filming.

 

However, there was one key change: the way the Saint met his death.

 

The saint was pushed down in a fight while trying to stop Jooho from escaping with Ga-hee.

 

He got up again and tried to chase after him, but the burning church, weakened by the flames, collapsed, and the saint was crushed by the debris.

 

“Aaaaaargh!”

 

The camera captured every second of it.

 

The Saint’s pristine white robes, once spotless and gleaming, caught fire.

 

He thrashed in agony, eyes wide with pain as the blazing heat devoured him.

 

His face, once unblemished, now melted grotesquely amid the flames, smeared with soot and blood. Above his body burned away, his crazed, mad eyes continued to shine, right up until the very end. 

 

“Cut! Cut!!”

 

Behind the Saint’s agonized scream of rage and pain, Jooho and Gahee disappeared into the pitch-black woods.

 

A beam of moonlight followed after them like a guiding signpost. The camera tilted up slowly, capturing the full moon hanging in the sky.

 

“…Okay!”

 

At last, the words everyone had been waiting to hear, the OK sign from director Jang Hangyeol, resonated coolly on set.

 

“Thank you for your hard work everyone!!!”

 

“Please bring the wet blankets right now!”

 

“I’ll put out the fire!! Get out of the way!”

 

The staff, who had been waiting for the OK sign with fire extinguishers and water-soaked blankets, rushed toward the burning set and toward Woohyun.

 

Actors and crew who had been watching from the sidelines burst into thunderous applause for the now-finished final scene of the Saint.

 

“Woohyun, you worked hard!!!”

 

“Thank you for your hard work!!!”

 

A rookie actor who is only filming his second work.

 

However there had been no signs of inexperience or rookie mistakes, only solid acting, great instincts, and a positive attitude that kept the entire set energized.

 

Everyone on set had already fallen for Woohyun, and their cheers were full of both admiration but could not hide their bittersweet feelings.

 

Wrapped in a wet blanket, enjoying the cool dampness seeping into his skin, Woohyun bowed toward the staff watching him, and gave the brightest smile he had ever shown.

 

The gruesome and miserable death he had just filmed, he could feel it deep in his bones, from everyone’s reactions, this was the perfect final scene. The last scene of this movie that will be shown in theaters someday.

 

That’s how Woohyun’s time as a ‘saint’ in <Fanatic> came to an end.

 

**

 

“Mmmm~”

 

The heat of midday was finally beginning to fade. It was September.

 

After finishing all the filming for <Fanatic>, he had a week of free time before the additional filming for <The Punisher: Vigilante> that would follow soon and the filming of his first variety show thanks to Nam Juwon.

 

Woohyun was now happily shopping for flowers and plants at the Yangjae Flower Market.

 

After signing a contract with Tree Actors and spending weeks on location shoots, his fully-furnished apartment was still bleak, without any traces of his taste or preferences. It still didn’t feel like home

 

Now that he finally had a rare break in his schedule, Woohyun was going to make the place his own with his taste for flowers and plants.

 

In his past life, people were always surprised by his love of plants and flowers, calling it an oddly refined hobby for someone with his looks.

 

But now, standing here among all these countless flowers, Woohyun looked like he belonged on the cover of a magazine.

 

Jeans, a pure white t-shirt, and luminous platinum-blond hair catching the light, he practically glowed.

 

People in the shop kept sneaking glances at him because of the visuals stronger than the pouring sunlight, and even the staff forgot to answer his questions on time, too distracted by his face.

 

Oblivious to the attention, Woohyun was thoroughly enjoying himself, shopping to his heart’s content.

 

“Please give me one of these, and what is that light purple flower called?”

 

“Oh, that’s cornflower. It turns a deeper blue when it blooms fully. The petals can also be dried and used as tea.”

 

“Wow… Then I’ll take that one too.”

 

After some careful deliberation, he picked out the flowers and plants.

 

He thought he had chosen them carefully, but Woohyun, who had taken a taxi to the flower complex, was presented with so many flower pots that he could never take them all in a taxi.

 

“Uh… We offer delivery if you would like? Or we can load it into your car for you…”

 

“Oh, no, it’s okay. A close hyung of mine is coming by soon, I’ll load it into his car.”

 

The clerk, who had secretly hoped to offer Woohyun a ride just to extend the interaction, looked slightly disappointed.

 

But then Woohyun smiled at her and thanked her sincerely, and she couldn’t help but grin back like an idiot, her cheeks flushing.

 

“Then, since you bought so much… and you’ll need proper tools to take care of them, I’ll give it to you as a service.”

 

“Ooh, thank you! I’ll definitely come back here next time.”

 

“R-really?!”

 

Woohyun let out an awkward but amused smile as he watched the clerk packing all kinds of gardening supplies into his shopping bag, to the point where it seemed excessive as a service. His visuals alone were enough to make people more generous than usual. 

 

‘Being handsome is the best. It’s thrilling and fun.’

 

Back in his past life, whenever he went flower shopping, people either got scared off by his looks or mistook him for a wholesaler and tried to haggle. It always turned into a weird standoff.

 

But now? Everyone was offering him freebies, and he could barely keep up with the kindness.

 

Surprisingly, he found himself getting used to it, this strange shift in the way people treated him. Because of that, he felt that he was becoming more generous and gentle mentally.

 

Maybe receiving kindness naturally made him more generous, too.

 

So even when the occasional shutter sound of a phone camera rang out while he was enjoying his own private time, he didn’t mind. He figured he could do that much.

 

Ten minutes passed after he finished checking out.

 

Then Ma Junseok, who had rushed over with his car despite it being his day off, showed up. Together, they packed the car full of potted plants and headed home.

 

With the peaceful sky stretched out above them, not a cloud in sight, and the car filled with the fresh, sweet scent of flowers, Woohyun took in a deep breath, savoring this rare day of freedom.

 

Reflecting on how perfect the day had been, Woohyun quietly muttered his next wish.

 

“Ah… I want to act again quickly.” 

 

**

 

After the news that he appeared in <The Punisher>, which was so short but had a big impact, and that he had started filming as a lead character in <Gwangshin>.

 

After <The Punisher>, which was so short but wildly impactful, and news of Woohyun being cast as a lead in <Fanatic>, there had been nothing. No interviews. No updates. Not even rumors.

 

Woohyun’s fans who call themself the so-called ‘Kongbiji Squad’, were going through painful days due to the lack of content.

 

Woohyun didn’t even have an official fan cafe. So his fans had taken over the ‘Tofu Gallery’ board of a random online community and claimed it as their home base.

 

[I wish someone would sneak onto the set and take some photos on set ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

 

[Or like… accidentally upload something to Instagram? Just one crumb. One mistake. I’m begging. I’m going to die of thirst ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ…..]

 

[No, it’s not like people film it every day, so how can there be no content like this? Even there is no eyewitness accounts;;;]

└[Plot twist: Sun Woohyun is actually AI…]

└[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋno bc his face is so unreal I almost believe itㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

 

At that time, there was a ridiculous theory that Seon Woohyun was not a human being who existed in the world, but a virtual creature created through perfect programming. Just as the fans were spiraling into delusions born of severe content drought, a mysterious post appeared:

 

<<QUIZ. Find something that isn’t a flower>>

 

A post that came up with a random question.

 

The post was filled with countless photos of Seon Woohyun, with pure white, platinum-hair, surrounded by colorful flowers, smiling peacefully.

 

From one shot where Seon Woohyun gently tended to a green orchid like the very embodiment of summer, to another where he held a bouquet of bright flowers and smiled so sweetly it made people wonder who the real flower was.

 

Most of the photos were clearly taken in secret; blurry, out of focus, no direct eye contact. But somehow, that only made them feel more like a concept shoot.

 

The Kongbiji fandom promptly lost their minds.

 

[Is this a photoshoot?]

 

[What’s with the crazy platinum blonde hair, ㅂ개아;ᅟᅥᇂ;미ㅏᅟᅥᆫㄴㅇㅎㄴㅇㄴㅇ ^[1] It’s keyboard smash. Thank youㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

 

[I should be mad these are taken in secret but honestly thank you so much;;;]

 

[Wait, isn’t he still filming <Fanatic>? Crazycrazycracycrazy did he bleach his hair for the role? Jang Hangyeol director is really crazy. I’m definitely going to see <Fanatic>. Seriously..]

 

[Why do I hear angelic choir music while looking at these pics? Is this synesthesia?]

 

[If anyone asks what “divine” means, just show them these photos.]

 

[With those visuals, I definitely have to watch it N times;;]

 

[Everyone, Seon Woohyun is a real person ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Please continue  cherish him, support him, root for him, praise him, sponsor him, lift him up, pray for him, worry about him, care for him, protect him, give him grace, be considerate of him, take care of him, laugh at him a lot, and just love him with your whole heart!]

└[Madness ON]

└[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

 

[Oh but I like black hair better…. If <Fanatic> does well this time, he won’t keep getting white hair, right?]

 

[Facts. Black-haired Tofu must be protected at all costs]

 

[But the platinum is so divine?? It feels special, more ethereal]

 

[His scalp should just get the memo and grow out blond now tbh]

 

Fueled by those few blurry snapshots, the once-dried-up ‘Tofu Gallery’ was back in full swing.

 

Before they knew it, they were so excited that they split into the white hair tofu faction and the black hair tofu faction and had a heated discussion, spending an unprecedentedly joyful day that night.

 

There was one more person whose imagination had completely caught fire over those photos.

 

“I’ve found him… my Prince Eunwol! It has to be him!”

 

Somewhere, a seasoned writer was furiously pounding away at their keyboard, possessed with inspiration and obsession all at once.

 

Woohyun had no idea that a single flower-shopping trip had ignited the flames of destiny in a writer’s heart.

• 1. It’s keyboard smash.