In This Life, I Will Die As An Actress, Not As A Villainess [EN]: Chapter 29

In the car, speeding along the Han River.

Sunlight reflected off the river, scattering into glittering fragments.

I watched the scene, taking deep breaths to calm myself.

Min-young *unnie* [older sister or close female friend], behind the wheel, had been nagging me non-stop for the past thirty minutes.

“You look way too nervous. If the veterans notice, you’re done for from the first breath. Do you want some calming medicine? No, that might make you too dull. Want to get some air for a bit?”

“Ugh, *Unnie*. Stop it.”

I couldn’t take it anymore and said something, and she sighed.

“Okay, fine. Actually, I’m the one who’s nervous.”

Looking at her profile as she sighed deeply, I burst out laughing.

“You can laugh at a time like this.”

Hearing her words, I opened the window a bit to let the wind into the car.

“It’s just… it’s amazing to be doing this with you, *Unnie*.”

“Huh?”

She replied distractedly, changing lanes.

I felt strange.

When filming “Flat Shoes,” I either rode in my dad’s car or took a taxi, and I never got this close to the managers I met in my previous life.

This morning, bright and early, *Unnie* insisted on driving me herself and came all the way to my house.

She didn’t say it, but I felt grateful inside.

Already, Mom and Dad seemed to be relying on her too.

“*Unnie*, don’t worry.”

“Really?”

“I’m nervous, but I feel good. I think I can do really well today.”

I really did.

Everything was ready.

Regardless of the outcome, I was confident that I had poured everything I had into it.

“Okay. Seeing you, I feel relieved.”

*Unnie* looked at my face and chuckled.

We looked out the window in silence, and soon the destination came into view.

“Give it your all. *Fighting* [a Korean expression of encouragement, like ‘Good luck!’].”

*Unnie* turned the wheel.

And so, we arrived at the NBS Academy building.

I was guided to the audition location and started walking when…

I heard whispering behind me.

“What, Han Se-na? From ‘Flat Shoes’?”

“Han Se-na…? Isn’t she a bit below their level?”

“Well, even if she gets rejected, her name value goes up just by competing with them, I guess.”

It was like *déjà vu*, a familiar situation unfolding.

Are those people talking that loudly on purpose, so I can hear them?

I glanced subtly in the direction of the voices…

Huh?

Seo Jae-yeon and Lee Na-ra were sitting side by side on the leather sofa in the waiting room.

The other actors were sitting in the corner, watching the two of them carefully.

They were the top two candidates for the drama, as Min-young *unnie* had said.

The two of them stared at me and continued talking.

“She’s rising, isn’t she? It’s the time when she’s most likely to have celebrity disease, so she must have thought it was worth a shot.”

Hey, I can hear you right here.

“Wasn’t her last one her debut work?”

They were blatantly treating me like I was invisible.

“That’s right, the time when she didn’t even know what a historical drama tone was.”

“To put it nicely, it’s ambition. It’s recklessness, recklessness.”

Lee Na-ra emphasized the word “recklessness” and met my eyes.

She laughed, looking at me.

Her laughing face was really…

Pretty.

“Hello.”

I bowed to the two of them.

“Oh my.”

The two of them looked at me with a mixture of embarrassment and interest.

This kind of psychological warfare was a piece of cake.

Whether it’s recklessness or ambition, what’s it to them?

What people say without knowing me doesn’t matter much.

Rather, I liked this situation a bit.

If I were to beat out such strong candidates and get cast…

My acting skills would shine even brighter.

I walked past them and approached the mirror.

“Oh my, oh my.”

The two of them laughed as if they were dumbfounded.

This wasn’t the time to worry about such things.

I focused on rehearsing my lines in my head.

After a while, I heard a staff member’s voice from behind.

“Han Se-na, please come in.”

* * *

As soon as I entered the audition room, what I saw was…

None other than a man’s aura.

Huh.

My mouth dropped open.

Lee Seok-hyun.

Short black hair, broad shoulders, a small face filled with clear eyes and a high nose, a sharp jawline…

Known as a face genius, and currently the top actor representing Korea.

It was my first time seeing Lee Seok-hyun in person.

Even his eyebrows and the space between them are pretty.

After a few seconds, I turned my head, thinking I had been staring at his face too obviously.

Why is Lee Seok-hyun here…?

I made an openly surprised expression and looked at the judges’ seats, and people smiled slightly.

“We called you in to match lines. Say hello, you two.”

Lee Seok-hyun gave a light nod first.

I quickly bowed my head.

At that moment, I thought, “Oops,” and looked at Lee Seok-hyun again.

‘You know Lee Seok-hyun is really greedy for roles, right? He also hates being called handsome. He says that being called handsome sounds like he can’t act. But the last work Lee Seok-hyun filmed completely flopped. He’s probably coming this time with his eyes wide open.’

Min-young *unnie*’s words came to mind.

No wonder.

There’s no way a top actor like that would come to an audition to match lines with an actress.

Then, sensing something strange, I looked at the judges’ seats again.

A middle-aged man staring intently at me was sitting on the edge.

The gaze that stared at me more than necessary was a bit burdensome.

I don’t know him…?

Someone who noticed my gaze opened their mouth and introduced the middle-aged man.

“He’s the director.”

“Ah! Hello.”

I bowed immediately.

The director raised and lowered his hand chicly while looking at me.

Even so, his eyes, which continued to look at me, were filled with curiosity.

Is it because of “Flat Shoes?”

He’s curious about me… how nice?

The other people greeted me warmly.

“Our Yoo Ji-an. Your acting skills have already been verified, so of course you’ll do well.”

“Don’t be nervous and show us comfortably.”

Everyone laughed cheerfully.

I calmed my mind amidst the various gazes.

* * *

Director Cheon In-soo looked at the young actress in front of him, who was catching her breath, with shining eyes.

A strange aura flowed from Han Se-na.

It was an energy that couldn’t be easily found in other young actresses.

‘She’s just like I saw her then. I like her after all.’

In the past, late at night, at the movie theater.

Cheon In-soo had a hobby of going to the movie theater alone late at night after finishing all his schedules and work.

And recently, he had seen Han Se-na at his hideout-like independent movie theater.

‘Yoo Ji-an from “Flat Shoes.”

His first impression was simply that.

But the young actress, who was watching three movies in a row, was diligently taking notes without stopping.

It was a different image from all the rumors and gossip.

“Hmm.”

Cheon In-soo became interested in her at that sight.

Later, after belatedly hearing the news that Han Se-na had joined hands with Kwon Min-young after turning True Actors upside down, that interest snowballed.

For some reason, he felt a delusion that he was seeing his younger self in the unfamiliar actress.

Cheon In-soo had risen to this position with nothing but the guts and tenacity to believe in himself for over 20 years.

He never considered efforts that he wasn’t proud of as efforts, and he didn’t listen to what others were saying.

Therefore, it was no exaggeration to say that Cheon In-soo had a DNA that made it difficult to ignore hardworking people.

So now.

Cheon In-soo stared intently at Han Se-na with a heart that was unknowingly cheering her on.

‘Show me. How hard you’ve been working all this time.’

Soon, Han Se-na stood facing Lee Seok-hyun.

It was quite a fresh and beautiful pair.

The scene the two were going to act out was a scene where the king teases the female lead, and the king doesn’t yet know the female lead’s gender.

“Let’s begin.”

Then, Han Se-na suddenly knelt down in front of Lee Seok-hyun.

‘…!’

Cheon In-soo, Lee Seok-hyun, and everyone in the judges’ seats were taken aback and held their breath.

Meanwhile, Han Se-na alone had a faint smile on her face.

“Doesn’t a subject always kneel before the king?”

Then Lee Seok-hyun swept back his hair and laughed.

Then he sat down on the floor with a thud.

Everyone leaned forward, looking at the two of them with interest.

Lee Seok-hyun sat cross-legged, looked at Han Se-na, and began.

“It is royal liquor (*sul*) [Korean alcoholic beverage]. I have filled the cup to overflowing with the heart of loving my subject.”

A soft baritone voice was low and pleasant to listen to.

Lee Seok-hyun pretended to hand something to Han Se-na.

Then Han Se-na bowed her head and pretended to receive a really small cup.

It was acting so realistic that it was close to mime.

“Since it is precious liquor, not a single drop should be left.”

As Lee Seok-hyun delivered the king’s playful line, Han Se-na pretended to put the cup down on the floor.

“I am sorry, but I cannot drink it. It is not the way of a gentleman to drink strong liquor and get drunk.”

“Oh ho, how dare you.”

Han Se-na flinched at the king’s threat.

She really looked like a subject being played by the king’s prank.

The people watching were gradually falling into the situation.

‘What, this is fun.’

‘That’s right, this scene was really fun….’

The corners of the mouths of the people who were tired of the long audition slowly went up.

Lee Seok-hyun also began to ride the flow.

He really became a king and began to covet the subject in front of him.

A subject who was trapping him in a maze, an unknown subject….

“Then, as punishment, write a love poem.”

Han Se-na also became Soon-im, who was embarrassed in front of the king.

Soon-im bowed her head in front of the king.

“That, that is outrageous. It is not right to compare loyalty to love, and I cannot write frivolous writings for the purpose of teasing.”

The director looked at Han Se-na with wide eyes at the clear and distinct diction.

‘She’s practiced historical dramas….’

The writer was also smiling uncontrollably at Se-na’s lines, which freely showed the emotional lines she wanted.

The king said again.

“Oh ho, you refuse this and that, so you are extremely disloyal. Are you really going to be exiled? I will lock you on that island on the pond and not let you out all day!”

It was the innocent appearance of a king who hated a subject who would not grant him what he wanted even once.

“I would rather go into exile.”

Then Soon-im, who was bowing her head, got up and pretended to jump into the pond with a splash.

The surprised king hurriedly got up and jumped into the pond, grabbing Soon-im’s arm and stopping her.

At that moment, the eyes of the king and Soon-im met at a short distance.

The breath of the people watching stopped in an instant.

In the eyes of the people, the space between the two seemed to have become a palace where lotus flowers were floating, not an audition hall.

The king’s breath was rough and Soon-im’s hands were shaking.

“Your Majesty! The dragon robe is all wet… Ouch.”

The king grabbed Soon-im’s arm with a flushed face.

“Then let’s go to that island and live together, you and I.”

Soon-im’s eyes, which had paused, shook.

The king’s two eyes, as dark as lacquer, already contained emotions deeper than the pond.

Tears welled up slightly in Soon-im’s eyes, which were suddenly overwhelmed.

‘I can’t even tell you that I’m a woman, but how can you only tease me without knowing my heart? If you weren’t my lord…!’

It was the narration that would be inserted in Soon-im’s voice.

Soon-im shook off the king’s hand.

“Where are you going? Your Majesty must be on the throne.”

In the end, the king’s feelings were hurt.

The king turned away and left the pond.

‘It’s not that I hate you, it’s that I hate myself. I’m crazy.’

It was the king’s heart that Soon-im didn’t know.

Looking at the king’s back, Soon-im dropped the tears she had been holding back onto the pond.

‘With a woman’s greed, I would have run away with you a hundred or a thousand times, taking advantage of the night. But I still have a lot, a lot of work to do.’

Soon-im bowed her head.

One scene of the audition ended like this.

The writer stared blankly at Soon-im, at Han Se-na.