In This Life, I Will Die As An Actress, Not As A Villainess [EN]: Chapter 68

A few days later, at a cafe on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province.

I was drinking tea with Min-young unnie [older sister or close female friend], enjoying the view of the large lake.

Unnie had contacted me in the morning, suggesting we get some fresh air, and suddenly whisked me away from Seoul.

We ate delicious food in a scenic spot, took a walk, and now we’re at this cafe.

Is this a date course?

I stared at Unnie, who seemed to be in a good mood, humming a tune.

Unlike what I had expected, she didn’t scold me much.

I was the only one feeling anxious.

Every minute and second feels precious right now.

My legs were shaking.

“Unnie, I need to go home now.”

“Hey, are you a cow? A cow?” [Referring to someone who is always busy and has no time to rest]

Unnie finally raised her voice.

“I heard you were making something with your friends, and I thought, ‘Oh, she’s finally taking a break for once,’ but you’re already starting another project. I told you, you can’t last long if you only work!”

Unnie’s nagging echoed in my ears.

“And what is it? You want to try directing while being an actress? But why aren’t you dating? Why not?”

“Unnie, one at a time.”

“Answer everything, in order. You have a good memory.”

I felt a bit tired and picked up my teacup again.

“I have no plans to direct. Nor to date.”

“Tsk, really. How are your parents doing?”

I nodded at Unnie’s words.

I could tell that Unnie brought me here to give me a break.

Even though she’s busy, she took the time to bring me here.

In the end, I decided to forget about work for a while.

While I was talking with Unnie, the sun began to set over the lake in the distance.

“This place is the real deal from six o’clock. The outdoor live performances are famous.”

Huh?

Suddenly, outdoor live performances.

“Follow me.”

Unnie got up and led the way.

As we walked out of the cafe, I saw sound equipment being brought into a nearby open-air theater.

“You have to watch something like this while eating delicious food.”

Unnie headed to a street stall in the alley with familiar steps.

“Auntie, two servings of tteokbokki [spicy rice cakes] and two servings of sundae [Korean blood sausage], please.”

After Unnie ordered, she filled a cup with oden broth [fish cake soup].

Then, we took the food and secured a prime spot where we could see the performance well.

I sat down on the ground and put tteokbokki in my mouth.

How long has it been since I ate tteokbokki?

It’s so delicious.

The hot air of the day subsided, and a pleasant, cool air enveloped the area.

Soon, the live performance began, and various people started to come on stage.

Saxophone players, trot singers [Korean pop music], and fusion Korean traditional musicians, all of whom are common in such theaters.

It was colorful, but not very exciting.

Everyone seemed a bit bland and lacking.

After the fusion Korean traditional music performance, an indie band came on stage.

But….

“Huh?”

The voice of the vocalist, who was covering a famous song, sounded familiar.

I stretched my neck to see the vocalist’s face.

Who was that person?

Why does he look so familiar?

I kept tilting my head as several songs went on.

“Why, do you know them?”

I shook my head at Min-young Unnie’s question. Just in case.

Before the last song, the vocalist spoke.

“Hello. We actually released a mini-album this time. We wanted to introduce it to you, so we’re trying to perform it for the first time today.”

After he finished speaking, the first verse began with an electric sound, and my body stood up on its own.

It’s Jang Do-gyeom!

I can’t believe Jang Do-gyeom was performing in a place like this.

Min-young Unnie was surprised and looked around, pulling me down to sit.

“Why are you doing this? Keep it down.”

Jang Do-gyeom’s band, Polaris.

This band was going to sweep all the OSTs [original sound tracks] in fields that ‘needed a strange and dreamy atmosphere’ in the future.

For example, mystery, thriller, and fusion historical dramas.

After that, they would continue to have a long run, expanding their scale from a niche fan base to a huge fan base.

The audience, who were listening to Jang Do-gyeom’s song for the first time, also had a pretty good reaction.

Some people were even searching for them online.

Ah, his voice was a little thinner in the early days.

I was unknowingly drawn to Jang Do-gyeom’s youthful song, which I hadn’t heard in a long time.

After what felt like a short three minutes, the Polaris band members were bowing to the audience.

I gave them a round of applause and got up.

Then, I grabbed Unnie and pulled her away.

“What? Why?!”

Unnie waved her arms as if wondering why I was doing this.

I hurried to the band members who were preparing to leave next to the stage.

“Hello. I’m a fan of Polaris.”

Jang Do-gyeom looked at me, startled by my words.

“Ah, thank you.”

“I was wondering if… you could do an OST for me.”

Everyone stopped in surprise at my words.

Min-young Unnie made a gesture as if she was about to faint next to me.

One or two of the members looked at me with suspicious faces.

“I’m going to start producing a drama soon, and I need a sound that matches our video.”

Jang Do-gyeom looked at the members, seemingly embarrassed.

The member with the guitar shook his head, and Jang Do-gyeom bowed to me.

“I’m sorry, but we’re not capable of that yet. See you next time.”

“I’m not a weird person!”

I took off the mask I was wearing in frustration.

“She’s crazy!”

Min-young Unnie was horrified and blocked me so that other people couldn’t see me.

The band members were shocked again when they saw my face.

“So please, please contact me as written on this business card. I’m begging you!”

Jang Do-gyeom accepted the business card in a daze.

With a face that seemed to say, ‘What is this?’

That’s how we headed home.

Min-young Unnie, who was behind the wheel, poured out a storm of nagging.

“You said you didn’t know them, who are they? Even if they seem talented, aren’t you being too aggressive? Saena, you’re sometimes too impulsive.”

This time, I took a posture of listening to Unnie’s words with a slightly apologetic heart.

Unnie glanced at me and snorted.

“Are you acting in front of me now? Look at you pretending to listen.”

I burst out laughing at Unnie’s words.

“I can’t do this anymore.”

Unnie shook her head.

“It’s not just that you have a lot of work, you’re chasing after work. What are you, a robot?”

While Unnie’s nagging continued, the outside of the window became completely dark.

* * *

The next day, in a small practice room.

Jang Do-gyeom was searching for all the articles related to Han Saena on the internet.

[Han Saena’s directorial debut, leading to the launch of a Netmate drama…]

[The unusual steps of a rookie actress]

[When is the production schedule for Han Saena X Netmate drama?]

“It’s real.”

Jang Do-gyeom pinched his forehead as if he was dizzy.

‘This is Kwon Min-young from Bareum Entertainment. Were you a little embarrassed yesterday? The Netmate drama will be produced soon, and I want to entrust you with the OST.’

That was what Han Saena’s representative had said on the phone earlier.

She even urged him to think about it carefully.

Jang Do-gyeom hugged his guitar and fell into deep thought like a statue.

Am I dreaming?

“We’re just people who released one mini-album.”

Jang Do-gyeom said to himself, feeling somewhat depressed.

It felt like a huge world had suddenly unfolded before him without any preparation.

Of course, why wouldn’t I be greedy?

Jang Do-gyeom sighed and looked around the old practice room.

‘Do-gyeom, I’m sorry for always passing the responsibility on to you as the leader… but can we really make the next album?’

It had only been a while since they had barely released a mini-album after five years.

Even after releasing an album that had been made with blood, sweat, and tears, no one called them.

In the end, they were directly applying for and touring all the events across the country.

Even promoting the album with the members’ own money.

However, the road ahead was even more difficult to think about.

The bassist was already getting tired because of financial difficulties.

But at this point, a big offer for an OST came from an unexpected place.

The thought that this might be the last chance kept bothering him.

Jang Do-gyeom picked up his phone again and turned on Itube [Korean version of Youtube].

He was planning to watch the video first.

Jang Do-gyeom turned on the video and leaned back in his chair to watch.

A strange island background suddenly came into Jang Do-gyeom’s eyes.

The overall feeling was rough and desolate.

The psychology of the characters who were dying one by one without knowing the reason was also terrible and fragile.

Jang Do-gyeom’s brow furrowed more and more.

As Jang Do-gyeom watched the video, he jumped up from his seat in less than 10 minutes.

Jang Do-gyeom hurriedly sat down in front of the synthesizer and raised his hand.

* * *

A week later, at the Netmate office.

“Mr. Do-gyeom, thank you so much for coming.”

Jang Do-gyeom was sitting in front of the drama officials and Chae-sung, looking a little scared.

In the end, I had succeeded in bringing him in to some extent.

I wonder how he saw our video.

I wonder how the officials will see Jang Do-gyeom.

I was nervous for no reason.

Then, Jang Do-gyeom hesitated and took out his phone.

“First, would you like to… listen to it?”

“…?”

The officials looked embarrassed at Jang Do-gyeom’s first words.

I didn’t expect this development either.

“I made only the sound source without lyrics after watching the Indebajukafo original video.”

As Jang Do-gyeom spoke, one person smiled awkwardly and replied.

“I didn’t expect you to come out so passionately, but thank you. But we’re going to make quite a few revisions to the drama in terms of content….”

Jang Do-gyeom nodded as he listened quietly.

“Are you saying that I didn’t do anything in vain? Of course, that could be the case. But I also have to show you my skills. Ms. Saena seems to trust me for some reason, but other people may not.”

Jang Do-gyeom expressed his thoughts slowly and clearly, though his voice was trembling.

He looked very cool.

I thought, ‘That’s how he’s been making music with such conviction.’

The music that Jang Do-gyeom had made spread throughout the office.

I rested my chin, listening to the emotional bass sound.

The unpredictable sounds trembled and spread out uneasily.

Soon, a melody was added to it, creating a dreamy and fantastic atmosphere.

Like the happy feeling when the characters each dream of their desired goals or dreams.

Just as I was about to fall into the melody, the atmosphere changed drastically and the music began to rage like a storm.

The sound grew louder and the drum sound was added irregularly.

It felt so swirling that it was uncomfortable to sit still and listen.

But for some reason, I couldn’t move my body so as not to miss even one of the melodies.