In This Life, I Will Die As An Actress, Not As A Villainess [EN]: Chapter 23

Under the clear May sky, on the rooftop of a hotel overlooking the Jeju sea.

Puh-!

I popped my head up after swimming for a while in the middle of the wide pool.

“Ha… I feel alive.”

How long has it been since I rested?

Two months?

No, five years? Ten years…?

I floated on my back, gazing at the bright blue sky, drifting through the water.

The only swimming I’d done since growing up was pushing the heroine into the water.

Now, I wish I could film a sweet romance with the male lead in a place like this.

Would it make a good scene?

Romance…

I’d have to experience it to know.

In acting, and in reality.

I cut through the water again.

Just then, some people started coming up to the rooftop.

“Hey… isn’t that Han Saena?”

“Oh, really?”

Soon, I could hear whispers from outside the pool.

Oops, I came out early on purpose.

I need to go down quickly.

I quickly wrapped myself in a towel and headed for the hotel elevator.

Shivering, I entered the room to the sound of my dad lightly snoring.

Where is he…?

I found him dozing off in the spa.

“Why are you here already?”

Mom approached, holding a glass of orange juice.

“People started coming.”

“Saena’s here?”

“Are you awake?”

Dad seemed to have woken up at the sound of our voices.

“You should have played in a private place like me.”

Dad said teasingly.

“Dad, go sit inside.”

With a groan, Dad moved his body, and I sat down in the spa pool with him.

“Ugh, it’s warm.”

“Both of you, just stay in for a bit and come out. We’re going to eat.”

Mom ordered the melting father and daughter.

“Aren’t you tired, Mom?”

“I’m on vacation, what’s there to be tired about?”

“People kept gathering at the airport; it must have been hard.”

Then Dad laughed happily, as if in a good mood.

“Dad is so excited. I love everything, everything.”

Even though people kept following us around, Mom and Dad were constantly beaming.

Seeing that made my heart swell.

Going on a family trip to Jeju Island with my first paycheck was a failed bucket list item from my past life.

* * *

In my previous life, I was suffering from malicious comments due to Yang Euicheol’s public opinion manipulation and my villainous roles.

The three of us were relaxing in the living room, gathered for the first time in a while.

“Mom, after my project is over, should we go on a trip to Jeju Island?”

Holding Mom’s hand with one hand, I worriedly stroked her cheek, which seemed thinner for some reason.

“What trip? You were so tired from filming. Rest at home.”

“No, I want to go on a trip with Mom and Dad.”

Then Dad, who had been sitting silently on the sofa, got up and approached the table where we were sitting.

“Saena, let’s not go around for a while.”

At those words, I smiled silently and put down Mom’s hand.

“Are you worried? Because of the malicious comments.”

Then Mom threw out the words she had been holding back.

“Saena, do you really have to be an actress?”

“Mom.”

“Why do you do something you want to do while getting cursed at?”

“This is just temporary. And this is all attention…”

I stopped speaking, feeling like I had been hit on the head.

I realized that family attacks were always included in the excessive malicious comments.

I bit my lip tightly.

That’s what Mom and Dad had seen.

Now I understood Mom’s sharp reaction.

“Even so… I’ve been clinging to being an actress for years, Mom.”

“You’re still young. Very young. You can do something else.”

“I’ll find a good agency somehow and ask them to handle the malicious comments…”

“I’m worried about you. Not Mom and Dad, but our daughter. How can a person endure seeing those comments every day?”

Mom’s voice grew a little louder.

“Why are you doing this when I’m okay?”

I was also on edge.

Then Dad quickly intervened.

“People forget about this stuff quickly anyway! Both of you, stop it. Let’s calm down, and then really go on a trip to Jeju Island together? Let’s shake it all off, okay?”

Even though he tried, his expression didn’t ease easily.

“Saena, Dad’s okay. Do what you want to do.”

Dad patted my shoulder.

I looked at Mom again.

“Mom, I’ll choose a different project next time. Just trust me once.”

Then Mom couldn’t hide her upset expression.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you.”

“I know.”

I held Mom’s hand.

“Okay… I don’t know. Let’s go to Jeju Island.”

Mom smiled.

I also tried to smile brightly.

“Okay! Let’s go!”

We all laughed together, holding each other’s warm hands.

However, that travel plan was postponed indefinitely.

After that, I filmed projects non-stop, as I was called everywhere.

Of course, they were all villainous roles.

* * *

Mom smiled and brushed her hair next to the bathtub.

“Mom, isn’t it nice to come on a trip?”

“Well, it’s not bad.”

I laughed at Mom’s words.

“Daughter, Dad wants to eat abalone.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

The old memories and the current situation overlapped, and I felt like I was about to cry.

“Wow, the Jeju Island sea is so beautiful!”

Mom threw open the curtains and said happily, looking at the sea.

* * *

After touring the tourist spots.

The three of us, dressed in trekking outfits, entered a *jjambong* [spicy Korean noodle soup with seafood] restaurant.

“This is the famous *haenyeo jjambong* [made with seafood harvested by female divers].”

“I’ll order abalone for you too, Dad. Eat a lot.”

“Yaha, good.”

“And take off your sunglasses.”

My face was clearly reflected in the glossy sunglasses Dad was wearing.

“No.”

“Please.”

The key was that I had bought Dad expensive sunglasses at the duty-free shop before getting on the plane.

Since then, he hadn’t taken off his sunglasses anywhere, all day long.

“My face can’t be recognized.”

“Why, not me, but Dad?”

“I haven’t gone to the dermatologist enough yet.”

“*Jjambong* is here.”

Fortunately, the employee’s serving stopped Dad’s nonsense.

Mom picked up a spoon, ignoring him.

Slurp-

Mom’s eyes sparkled after taking a sip of the soup.

“Wow, it’s so delicious.”

The three of us were eating without a care in the world when Mom glanced at the TV in the restaurant.

Then she asked in her usual nonchalant voice.

“But, doesn’t our daughter do commercials or anything?”

“Would you like me to?”

“No. Well…. wouldn’t it be nice if you did?”

I was also wondering about that.

Don’t I do commercials or anything?

It’s about the right timing for something to come in, but there’s no contact……

Just then, my phone rang.

It was Minyoung *unnie* [older sister or close female friend].

A minor behind-the-scenes story was that we quickly became close after a drink or two.

As soon as I answered the phone, Minyoung *unnie* said abruptly.

“A commercial came in.”

“You’re a mind reader.”

What perfect timing.

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing. What is it?”

I felt nervous for some reason.

“Soju [Korean distilled liquor]. Dew of Dawn.”

“…!?”

Soju…?

Soju that only top stars do???

“Hello?”

Minyoung *unnie* laughed over the receiver when I didn’t respond.

“I’m also dumbfounded.”

“Is it really soju? Why? Why are they using me?”

Ah, wait a minute.

At that moment, several scenes flashed through my head like lightning.

The scenes of me drinking while filming Flat Shoes had become a hot topic….

My fellow actors and staff also joked about me getting a liquor commercial.

I thought it was just nonsense.

Could it be.

“The scene of Yoo Jian drinking. The vice president had a feeling when he saw that. No less.”

Wow….

My mouth dropped open.

“Anyway, you’ll do it, right? I’m busy, so I’ll hang up.”

“Ah, thank you. I’ll contact you, *unnie*.”

The phone hung up like that.

I was sitting there, dumbfounded, when Dad handed me the spoon again.

“Hey, you’re grinning like that while talking about soju? Are you going to become a heavy drinker like your mom?”

“Do you want to skip a meal?”

Dad coughed at Mom’s sharp words.

“It’s not just about soju. Model, commercial model!”

“Huh…?”

Mom and Dad’s eyes widened at the same time.

Suddenly, Dad put down the spoon with a clatter.

“That’s even worse!”

“What? Dad, did you hear wrong? It’s a soju commercial?”

Suddenly, Dad took off his sunglasses and became serious.

“Hey, isn’t that like taking pictures half-naked and seductively? Soju commercial!”

I didn’t answer and scooped up *jjambong* soup with a spoon.

“You, no!”

Dad said once more.

Mom was also listening to Dad without saying a word.

Mom also seemed to be worried.

Well, in my past life, a different concept came out much later than now.

Before that, it was unconditionally a sexy concept.

Anyway, this is the key point.

The trend is changing.

I can do that.

“Don’t worry, Dad. I won’t film it seductively.”

“Aish, I said no!”

“Just put your sunglasses back on.”

“Hey!”

* * *

A few days later, Seoul.

Inside an office where the smell of newly painted paint hadn’t faded yet.

The Dew of Dawn logo was attached to the wall.

Two public relations team employees sitting in front of me smiled at my gaze as I looked around.

“It’s quite clean now. The director changed and said we should go with a new trend.”

“Ah.”

I nodded and smiled.

Then that’s even better.

“By the way, Yoo Jian’s acting while drinking was really amazing. You drink soju like water.”

“You know that various communities went crazy that day. I heard that the chicken gizzard fries were sold out in some neighborhood because of Flat Shoes.”

“Your acting is so brutal. I thought it was real, not acting. And how drunk you were!”

It was surprising that they were treating even a rookie like me so well, even though they must have seen famous celebrities once or twice.

“And the next day, you wake up perfectly fine and go around doing bad things as if nothing happened?”

The two employees laughed cheerfully at my words.

“Oh, that’s right. It was amazing. After all, not just anyone can play a villain.”

“I put a lot of effort into that filming. Actually, it was real alcohol.”

I put my hand to my mouth as if it were a behind-the-scenes story and whispered.

“Huh? Really?”

The eyes of the employee who was listening intently widened.

“You even drank while filming. You must have been very tired, how did you do it? I heard Flat Shoes was very tough.”

“Haha, that’s right. What I drank then was Dew of Dawn.”

In a friendly atmosphere, the office door opened.

“Did you wait long?”

The person in charge came and sat down with documents.

“I’ll give you the contract first without saying anything else. Would you like to check it out? I’ve already discussed it with the agency representative. Please check it.”

Looking at the paper, the contract fee was 50 million won per year [approximately $37,000 USD].

The amount they initially offered was 30 million won, but I heard that Minyoung *unnie* had skillfully negotiated and raised it by 20 million won.

It was a decent amount for a rookie whose next project hadn’t been confirmed yet.

After signing like that.

“If you have any drafts, can I see them first?”

I smiled brightly and asked the person in charge.

Then, as expected, the person in charge looked troubled.

“Well, we’re still internally coordinating the concept. And if this is leaked to the outside….”

“Now that I’m a model, I’ll never tell anyone else. Haha, but it would be a bit much if I knew first, right? I don’t want to make things difficult for the person in charge.”

“Oh, no. As you said, you’re a model now. Actually, we have two drafts….”

At those words, my ears perked up automatically.

The employees looked nervous.

“Before that… if Saena-ssi has any opinions, can you tell us?”

Hearing those words, I smiled again as if nothing was wrong.

It was as expected.

It must be difficult to tell me.

And I could tell right away what those two drafts were without hearing them.

Because the media was quite hot at this time of the season, with liquor companies divided on whether to push the sexy concept like before or aim for a different image.

If I remember correctly, Dew of Dawn pushed the pure concept from the next season.

At that time, it was already a step behind other companies.

“Hmm… Dew of Dawn is originally about cleanliness.”

Dew of Dawn had a clear concept from the beginning of its brand launch.

Clear, transparent.

It’s become generalized now because it follows the liquor trend.

“Clean soju, refreshing and clear even the next day after drinking. So it’s more enjoyable and comfortable to drink-”

The person in charge listened to my words and nodded.

“Comfortable at home, lightly even alone. That’s the feeling, Dew of Dawn is to me.”

In addition, I heard that Dew of Dawn lowered the alcohol content this time and made many attempts to eliminate hangovers.

“But… the alcohol content has also been lowered, but is the advertising concept still the same?”

I looked at the person in charge’s face as if I was really curious, pretending not to know anything.

Then the person in charge looked a little embarrassed.

“That’s not clear yet…. And one more thing, it seems that we will be launching a product with a lower alcohol content separately and selling the existing high alcohol content with a red mark.”

“Ah, so you’re going to use two concepts for each of those two products…?”

“Yes… we’re thinking about that direction.”

The person in charge smiled and mumbled.

Then, something suddenly flashed through my mind.

“Ah, I see. Red is like Yoo Jian, and the existing blue feels like my comfortable self. When you imagine the image?”

I smiled bashfully as I said that.

Then, the expression of the person in charge who was listening to those words became unusual.

“Oh? That’s good…?”

“Yes?”

“What you just said. The strong image with high alcohol content is like Yoo Jian, and the clearer and purer image is like Han Saena…. If one actor goes with those two concepts together, it will be easy to make an image, and the advertising context will flow in one line.”

The person in charge’s words became faster and faster.

The employees were listening to the person in charge’s words as if they were possessed and chimed in.

“That’s really good…?”

“Blue is natural and friendly, like Yoo Jian eating chicken gizzards in the drama. Red is dressed up and running hard. This goes well with Yoo Jian’s sexy concept. I can already picture the advertisement?”

The person in charge took out a pen and hurriedly scribbled on the back of the remaining paper.

The employees also had faces that said this was it, and their eyes were shining.

“Can I pass on the idea that Saena-ssi mentioned?”

“Ah, of course.”

After writing for a while, the person in charge put down the paper and pen.

And opened his mouth again.

“As you know, our competing brand is Hanyang Liquor White. I heard that they renewed their contract with Jeon Miyeon this time.”

Jeon Miyeon was the top sexy star in the industry for over 10 years.

White will continue to push the sexy concept.

“Then Dew of Dawn can go this way, right?”

“Yes?”

This time, the person in charge asked back.