Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Thunderous Cheers
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Seonwoo's acting didn't just send shivers down Dasol's spine.
Everyone in the audience was trembling as they watched him.
A quiet, eerie charm that silently captivated people's hearts.
Dayeon was no exception.
'Who the hell is that guy?'
She had seen Confession at least ten times.
And her focus was always the same. Cha Doyoung's performance. Nothing else.
The other actors' performances were, honestly... just the backdrop that made Doyoung shine brighter.
It wasn't just fan bias speaking.
Objectively, the gap in skill was impossible to ignore.
She had liked Eunseok because he was one of the rare few who didn't fade next to Doyoung.
When he was onstage, even Doyoung's acting seemed to come alive more vividly.
So she'd been disappointed to hear Eunseok wasn't performing today...
'Who is this guy...?'
She couldn't help but be amazed.
For starters, his basic acting chops were outstanding. You could feel the dark aura of a man backed into a corner from his very walk.
And that was just the beginning.
'...I've never seen a Seungdo this heartbreaking.'
The Seungdos she'd seen before were like... withered logs, maybe.
Dry and drained of their last spark of life, just waiting to burst into flame.
But this Seungdo was different.
Somehow... defiant yet pleading for help.
Like a wounded cat, maybe.
A Seungdo she'd never seen before.
Unfamiliar. But her eyes kept drifting back to him.
As if he might shatter like snowflakes if she looked away.
But it didn't feel bad.
No, it felt like without this Seungdo... her heart wouldn't stir.
Everyone here was probably feeling the same way.
That must have been why.
When Seungdo appeared onstage during the curtain call...
"Kyaaaaaaaah!"
"So cool!"
The cheers erupted like thunder.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Acting was fascinating.
The more Seonwoo acted with the Cheongsong Troupe, the more he felt he'd made the right choice starting this.
Had he ever dived this deeply into anything before? Not even during his intense senior year of high school cramming sessions.
And it made sense.
Acting was filled with all the colors he'd craved.
Black suits. White shirts. Black ties.
Black briefcases and crisp white resumes crammed with dense black text...
Unlike that monochrome world, this stage was a riot of vibrant hues.
Beautiful.
'...Well, Seungdo's colors aren't exactly pretty.'
Seonwoo gave a wry smile as he gazed at Seungdo's color orb.
A murky dark red-black.
At first, he hadn't liked this color much. Being steeped in such depressive, tormented, anger-filled emotions wasn't pleasant.
But not anymore.
This color was Seungdo.
The more he studied and understood the character... the more he genuinely cherished him.
'Must have been tough.'
This was the first time he'd delved so deeply into a single role.
The more he felt Seungdo's hellish inner world... the closer Seonwoo felt to the man himself.
And that made him pity Seungdo all the more.
The one plea he made to the Priest—"How will you punish me?"
How desperate must he have been for even divine punishment to feel like hope?
There was nothing Seonwoo could do for such a Seungdo.
Just portray him. Make the audience understand.
Who Seungdo was.
Why he had no choice but to act that way.
He was a little worried.
Would these emotions he's conveying really get through?
Would they truly understand Seungdo as a person?
"You'll know by the end of the show whether your acting landed. Naturally."
Eunseok said that, watching Seonwoo fret.
"How?"
"The curtain call."
Eunseok snapped his fingers.
"People's hearts are brutally honest... They cheer as loud as they're moved."
'...So if I did well, the cheers will tell me.'
"Exactly. Simple, right?"
Yeah. Simple.
Seonwoo steadied himself.
Don't overthink.
Just focus on Seungdo.
Paint the stage.
With Seungdo's colors.
"You're not here to confess your sins. You're here to declare them."
Seonwoo looked up.
The Priest stared down at him, enveloped in a brilliant golden light like the sun itself.
At first, that light had dazzled and disarmed him.
But not anymore.
Seonwoo walked forward slowly.
One step, then another... imprinting Seungdo's dark red-black footprints across the stage.
"...I intend to kill a man."
It wasn't just murky darkness.
Seonwoo met the Priest's eyes and placed a hand on his chest.
"How... will you punish me?"
A plea.
To save him.
A silver thread emerged from Seonwoo's fingertips on the Priest's chest, inching toward him.
But,
"I do not punish the innocent."
The Priest never grasped it.
His stage blazed golden, but Seungdo stood alone in the center, dark red-black.
Yes.
"I've come."
Until that moment he returned to the Priest—and probably beyond... on and on.
"Will you punish me now?"
And in that instant.
For a fleeting moment, it seemed Seungdo's dark red-black hue encroached on Doyoung's golden stage, tainting it...
Pop!
The lights cut to black.
His final scene was over.
His heart pounded.
He could barely believe he'd just been onstage.
Even backstage, Seonwoo sat dazed for a long while.
Did he do well?
Did the audience grasp the Seungdo he showed them?
That was when Yechun appeared, as Seonwoo's mind swirled with doubt.
"...Hyung. That was insane."
"Yeah... Huh?"
"The vibe at the end was no joke. Everyone in the audience looked totally entranced... I bet you're the curtain call star tonight."
"Haha... No, thanks anyway."
Seonwoo shook his head with a wry smile.
Then a sudden question struck him, and he turned to Yechun.
"Yechun."
"Yeah, hyung."
"How was my Seungdo...?"
"Awesome!"
"No, I mean... as a person. What'd you think?"
"Uh..."
He hadn't expected that.
Yechun seemed flustered for a second, then grew serious, pondering.
Finally, a short answer.
"Pitiful."
"...Yeah?"
"Yeah. I don't know about the killing part... but he just seemed really pitiful."
Seonwoo finally smiled.
It matched what he'd felt for Seungdo.
He'd acted a pitiful man to evoke pity. That had to count for something basic, right?
Praise like "great acting" didn't quite land.
Watching Doyoung perform right in front of him made it worse.
His own work felt insignificant.
But for now, he should savor these small fruits, be grateful.
No need for highs and lows. That's what he thought.
But,
"Thank you!"
"Whoooaaa!"
When curtain call time came, the tension was unavoidable.
The other Confession actors took the stage one by one, met with applause and cheers.
Before, as a mere spectator... he hadn't paid much mind to the volume. It wasn't for him anyway.
But now?
'...Why's my heart racing like this?'
It pounded harder than during the show.
Up there, he could just think of Seungdo... but curtain call was Kim Seonwoo's time.
And,
"Seonwoo. Your turn."
"...Yes!"
Finally, his moment.
Seonwoo plastered on a smile and climbed onstage.
Ah, my face must look so weird right now.
Character roles were one thing. Managing expressions like this? Tough.
He reined in his mind.
Even if the applause was light, no sulking. First stage ever. No boos would be a win.
But,
"Kyaaaaaaaah———!"
"So cool!"
"Whiiiiistle——!"
What.
What was happening?
His feet wouldn't move.
The cheers were overwhelming. Exaggerating a bit, it felt like his eardrums might burst.
This was all for him?
"Th-thank you!"
Seonwoo stammered in shock.
He hadn't expected this level of response.
He bowed twice over, shuffled off awkwardly, then wiped his dry face backstage.
Heart racing.
The cheers felt like a dream.
Was his acting... really that good?
"...Insane."
Seonwoo muttered blankly, staring at his trembling hands.
Unreal. Mind still hazy.
But why? He kept smiling.
Acting...
Definitely the right call starting this.