In This Life, I Will Die As An Actress, Not As A Villainess [EN]: Chapter 16

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

It was my day off for the first time in a while, and I was sprawled out on the living room sofa.

Ha, how long has it been since I last rested like this?

If I were in my 40s body right now, I would have fainted ten times already.

The filming schedule, which aired with only a 3-4 episode difference, was close to live and utterly brutal.

Several actors and staff members, including Yuri, were already relying on IV drips.

Why does such a useless variable even exist?

While I was sprawled out like that, my mom kept peeling fruit and feeding it to me.

I feel like I’m going to explode after eating all that meat.

“You look like you’re wasting away to nothing. Do you even eat while filming?”

“I eaat somthing.”

I mumbled a vague answer.

“Eating, my foot. That’s it. Give me the director’s number.”

Pfft, I chuckled.

“What are you going to do, Mom?”

“What am I going to do? They haven’t sent my child home for days, and your face looks so gaunt. Am I supposed to just sit here and do nothing?”

I quickly chewed the apple and swallowed it.

“Mom, the director isn’t some homeroom teacher.”

Mom sighed, trying to calm herself down.

“At least those nasty comments about you have disappeared.”

My ears perked up at those words.

“Really?”

Yes, it’s been three days since Yang Euicheol made that bold promise…

He must have taken care of it.

“Mom, do you read all those hateful comments? You shouldn’t.”

“I don’t read them; they just give me a headache.”

If you don’t read them, how do you know they’re gone, Mom?

“Your dad has been pressing the report button on all of them for days, staying up all night.”

Suddenly, my nose felt stuffy at those words.

He was the same as always, both now and in the past.

A man who wasn’t even good with computers, sitting there all day, clicking away at the report buttons on the comments.

Mom probably pretends not to care, but she must be suffering quite a bit behind the scenes.

Unlike me, who was growing more accustomed to my villainous role, my parents were always more anxious about the hateful comments than I was.

In many ways, having a daughter living a villainous life made me a dutiful child.

“Why would you go that far…”

This time, Mom put a strawberry in my mouth.

I dutifully ate it while picking up my phone.

I typed my name into the portal site search bar, and most of the negative news, comments, and posts that appeared under Han Saena’s name had disappeared.

Yang Euicheol must have pulled some strings.

And I occasionally saw posts where people were immersed in and analyzing the villain, Yoo Jian.

[The Woman Who Had No Choice But to Become a Villain]

[Yoo Jian: The Pain and Wounds She Desperately Tries to Hide with Her Venom]

[10 Reasons Why Yoo Jian Isn’t Just an Ordinary Villain]

I nodded as I read each one.

It was quite interesting.

In my previous life, Yoo Jian was a sensational character who received a fair amount of attention, but she never gained this level of ‘immersion.’

But now, people were cheering on Yoo Jian’s life.

My heart swelled.

The comments were mostly positive reviews.

– I watch Flat Shoes just to see Yoo Jian.

– Am I weird if I empathize with Yoo Jian?

– Please make Yoo Jian happy, writer-nim [writer-ssi, a Korean honorific]….

And then there were the articles that the reporters, who had flocked to the set but failed to get any scoops, wrote without any context.

[Shocking Twist! The Villain’s Real-Life Appearance Off-Screen]

Unlike the clickbait title, the twist was that it contained words like ‘diligent’ and ‘passionate’ from interviews with fellow actors and staff.

In any case… the reporters, whose goal was to get views, had also managed to attract quite a bit of attention, so everyone had reached a peaceful conclusion.

I felt sorry for my colleagues on set.

They must have been harassed by reporters because of me.

I have to make sure to thank them when I go back to the set.

And now…

Finally, I opened my piled-up message box.

There were missed calls and text messages from various agencies offering proposals and contacts that I hadn’t seen.

I started reading them carefully one by one.

I needed to quickly use Yang Euicheol and find a suitable excuse to reject him, while also finding a real agency to sign with in the future.

– Hello, this is Kim Yoona, the head of Renner Agency. Please contact me.

– Hello, Han Saena-ssi [Ms. Han Saena]. We are Miru Entertainment, ardent fans of Yoo Jian from Flat Shoes. Please give us a call when you have time ^^

– Hello, this is Lydier Entertainment. We would really like to meet with Han Saena-ssi. Please contact us.

Hmm… where should I start having meetings?

Just then, I received a call from Seon Yooseok.

– Senior! Are you alive? I was so worried because I couldn’t reach you.

Seon Yooseok greeted me with a bright voice when I answered the phone.

My mom glanced at me when she heard a man’s voice over the phone.

No, it’s not like that.

I waved my hand at my mom.

“Are you worried about me, or are you worried that I won’t help you with your acting?”

He laughed awkwardly on the other end of the phone at my question.

– Of course, it’s both. Noona [term used by younger males to address older females], are you free tomorrow? Do you want to have dinner?

“Should I?”

Once again, Mom’s eyes widened, and she stared blankly at me.

This is so uncomfortable.

I got up from the sofa, went into my room, and closed the door.

– Did you find an agency, Noona?

“Not yet. I’m getting a lot of offers, but I’m still thinking about it.”

– Actually, my company is making a fuss about wanting to meet you. Oh, especially the director.”

“Oh, really?”

So, this company is taking the approach of contacting me through an acquaintance.

If it’s Yooseok’s company…

True Actors.

– We have a Director Kwon, and she’s incredibly persistent.

“Director Kwon?”

– Yes, Director Kwon Minyoung.

Kwon Minyoung?

The moment I heard the name, my mind went blank.

Could it be Force Entertainment’s Kwon Minyoung…?

Kwon Minyoung was a well-known name in the industry as a stubborn and capable person.

Could it be a person with the same name?

“How does she know about me? Did she watch the drama?”

I lost my composure for a moment, and the words came out quickly.

– No, you came to the company to help me with my acting last time, right? She kept asking me about you and praised you a lot, so I told her your name.

“Oh, really?”

I sat on the edge of the bed, deep in thought.

If it really is that Kwon Minyoung…

My heart rate was increasing.

My instincts were telling me to meet Kwon Minyoung right away.

“Then, bring the director with you tomorrow night?”

– Ah? Yes, I’ll ask her.

“Okay, see you tomorrow.”

I hung up the phone.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves.

If the company plans to bring me in, the director will somehow clear her schedule and come to the meeting.

I planned to go out and see if it was really that Kwon Minyoung.

If it was actually Kwon Minyoung, who would later start Force Entertainment, this would be an unparalleled opportunity of a lifetime.

I recalled hearing stories about Kwon Minyoung a long time ago.

When Kwon Minyoung was at a mid-sized agency, she was always at odds with the management because she only spoke the truth.

She always took the lead in opposing the company’s attempts to cover up actors’ criminal scandals, corruption, and incidents.

In addition, she had a history of admitting wrongdoing to the media when everyone else remained silent.

However, her work performance was so good that the company couldn’t fire her, until Kwon Minyoung left on her own for some reason.

I don’t know what that reason was, but…

The famous Kwon Minyoung’s philosophy and management creed was just one thing.

‘Let’s be human before becoming actors.’

After that, she started her own company, Force Entertainment, a large agency specializing in actors.

“Wait a minute…. Then, could it be that the company she left was True Actors?”

What’s going on?

Just then, Mom burst into the room and cautiously asked.

“Our daughter… are you meeting someone?”

“You scared me! Mom, please.”

“What if you get into a scandal? That won’t do. I’m going to go out and eat with you.”

Haa, at my age……

Then, realizing my current appearance, I laughed because my mom, full of worry, was so cute.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get an agency.”

* * *

The next day, in front of UBN Broadcasting Station.

I finished a brief meeting with the writer and director and was about to leave when I suddenly stopped.

A voice that spread unpleasantness from afar was heard.

“Well, well, who do we have here? If it isn’t our actress!”

It was Yang Euicheol.

Ha, seriously.

I tried my best to smooth out the frown that was forming on my face.

Yang Euicheol waved his hand and walked towards me.

“Oh my, Director! What brings you to the broadcasting station?”

I forced a smile and greeted him.

“Oh, I came to have a meeting regarding our agency’s actor getting into a project. Saena-ssi, are you here for a project meeting?”

“Ah, yes.”

No sooner had I finished speaking than Yang Euicheol spoke up.

“Have you had lunch, Saena-ssi?”

“Ah, yes. I ate earlier.”

“It’s twelve o’clock now, already?”

Oops.

“I tend to eat lunch early. I have to diet, too….”

“You’re already so skinny, and you’re dieting! Being a celebrity is tough….”

Yang Euicheol subtly checked my complexion.

“Anyway… did you see that a lot of the hateful comments have disappeared? How is it?”

I widened my eyes and asked.

Yang Euicheol smiled, thinking he had succeeded.

“Our company can handle this kind of thing easily. When it comes to actors, the best thing is to have a place that can protect you with power and capital.”

I nodded at Yang Euicheol’s words.

“I guess agencies are all that amazing.”

“Not all of them are like that. AK isn’t the top for nothing, you know? Do you like it?”

Yang Euicheol whispered and winked.

I pretended not to hear those words and opened my mouth.

“Actually, I was so surprised when Senior Park Hoon’s company sent a food truck with raw fish this time.”

I clapped exaggeratedly and sparkled my eyes, causing Yang Euicheol to look flustered.

I continued to speak.

“We had another outdoor location last week, near a pension [Korean-style lodging] in Gapyeong. It was so nice eating mulhoe [cold raw fish soup] there! That company’s sense is really the best, don’t you think?”

Yang Euicheol’s expression grew increasingly stiff as he listened to my words.

That expression… was familiar.

It was the expression Yang Euicheol put on his face whenever something went wrong.

In fact, in my previous life, I used to feel a chill down my spine whenever I saw that face.

Whenever that expression appeared, something bad would always happen to me and the people around me.

“Saena-ssi, I didn’t expect you to be like this.”

“Yes?”

Yang Euicheol chuckled.

“You’re a rookie, but you’re not a complete beginner, are you?”

Tension flowed during the brief silence.

It felt like he had seen through my intentions to test him.

I quickly racked my brain for a short time.

“Yes…? Is that a compliment?”

I smiled brightly.

Yang Euicheol looked at my face and laughed along, as if holding back.

“You’re not trying to test our company, are you?”

Yang Euicheol playfully threw a question with a hidden meaning.

“Test you? How dare I, to Director Yang… I’m just a rookie. Was I rude?”

I quickly put on a worried expression.

As tears quickly welled up in my eyes, Yang Euicheol looked taken aback.

“No, no. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that….”

“I just… I’m just curious about agencies and think they’re amazing……. I just really wanted to get to know you, so I said that.”

I lowered my head.

People passing by in front of the broadcasting station glanced at us and walked by.

Yang Euicheol waved his hand, as if conscious of the attention.

“Saena-ssi, I was too wrong. Oh, geez, being in this industry makes you mean.”

Yang Euicheol handed me a handkerchief.

I took the handkerchief and dabbed away my tears.

The strong perfume smell made my head hurt.

“No, I’m sorry. If I seem like I’m testing you, I’ll leave right away.”

Yang Euicheol said urgently at those words.

“No, no. I didn’t know our Saena-ssi liked raw fish so much. I was wrong too! Hey, I’ll treat you big! Where’s the next outdoor location? I’ll treat you to sea bream, flounder, uh? Heck, even salmon.”

I chuckled inwardly at those words.

He probably only sends raw fish trucks to top actors once a month, if that….

Yang Euicheol was probably sweating bullets inside right now.

Because things kept going differently from his plans.

“Director Yang, you’re the best! I like you so much!!”

I grabbed Yang Euicheol’s arm with both hands and shook it exaggeratedly.

Yang Euicheol forced a twisted smile and laughed.

“Then, shall we see each other again next time?”

Yang Euicheol left a short greeting and hurried into the broadcasting station.

I stared at Yang Euicheol’s receding figure for a moment.

I have to get rid of him quickly.

The thought of finding an agency as soon as possible became even more urgent.

On the way out of the broadcasting station, I dropped the handkerchief into the trash can in front of me.

A refreshing song came out on its own.

If I had known it would be like this, I would have tried this kind of fox-like behavior sooner.

Why did I only find out about this now?

As I was walking with a lively step, I heard another familiar voice from behind.

“Saena-ssi!”

It was Jieun-ssi.

Jieun-ssi and the staff members who were called to today’s meeting were sitting together on a bench.

The atmosphere seemed noisy for some reason.

What’s going on?

I waved my hand and approached the bench.

“Saena-ssi, did you see the breaking news?”

One of the staff members asked in a urgent voice.