In This Life, I Will Die As An Actress, Not As A Villainess [EN]: Chapter 72

The next morning, at the HBC [Hanguk Broadcasting Corporation] headquarters, in the director’s office.

Director Ko Taek-hyun was in his office from the start of the new year.

The monitor displayed articles about Han Saena winning awards and dominating real-time search rankings.

“Good grief.”

Ko Taek-hyun read the Han Saena articles for a while, a displeased expression on his face.

It hadn’t been long since that damn «Gyeol Flower» had caused HBC’s shows in the same time slot to plummet.

Moreover, the drama that Han Saena was making in collaboration with NetMate was diverting attention away from HBC’s new project, which was about to air.

It was HBC’s ambitious project, into which they had poured billions of won.

But it wasn’t getting any publicity at all.

Also, Han Saena was flatly rejecting all appearances on HBC’s dramas, radio shows, and variety programs. What nerve!

Yet, not long ago, she and the cast of «Gyeol Flower» had appeared on a variety show on another broadcasting station as a group.

He vividly remembered that even that show had been a huge ratings success.

“Is she doing this on purpose?”

Ko Taek-hyun typed Kwon Min-young’s name into the search bar.

“Is she behind this?”

A long time ago, he had a brief run-in with Kwon Min-young when she was at True Actors.

HBC had given the lead roles to actors from True Actors in a drama that had a large budget at the time, and they had been heavily promoted in various ways.

In return, they were prohibited from doing any other filming for a while, starting with publicity.

It might have felt a bit excessive.

But it was his judgment that the lead actor in a drama with such a huge production cost had to bear that much responsibility.

Then, a while later, the agency had come out with the absurd position that they were rejecting the casting.

‘The crank-in [first day of filming] articles have already been published, and now they’re doing this? Are they crazy?’

‘There’s a manager named Kwon Min-young at the agency… I heard she’s not easy to deal with.’

He had completely lost it when he heard the news from his subordinate at the time.

After a brief recollection, Ko Taek-hyun chuckled.

“How dare a mere agency act so high and mighty in front of a broadcasting station… They act like they know everything.”

Ko Taek-hyun turned off the screen.

“Well, it might be good to set an example once in a while. To show who’s in charge.”

* * *

At the same time, on Blue Island, where the weather had cleared up for the first time in a while.

[Uninhabited Island Dress Goddess Han Saena’s Acceptance Speech]

[Han Saena’s Professionalism Shines in Remote Area Dress!]

[‘Even if I’m embarrassed, I have to do what I have to do…’ The Dignity of a Young Actor from the Land of Courtesy]

[‘Han Saena Has a Stake in the Screenplay Award’ Writer Nam Ji-hye’s Honest Thoughts]

I let out a low scream as I looked at the articles.

“Agh, I’m going crazy.”

It felt like the whole world was mocking me.

The reactions were much stronger than I had expected.

– Wow, I’ve always thought Han Saena was subtly funny, but she’s really a gag character. She dances so well too.

– Our girl is the one who dresses up politely even on a deserted island. Everyone, become a fan.

– I like that she never holds back. I’m looking forward to her next project. I want the NetMate drama to come out soon.

I ended up turning off the screen.

The staff all smiled and passed by me.

“She’s the mood maker, the mood maker.”

A new nickname was born after the Dancing Queen.

It was called the Uninhabited Island Dress Goddess.

Then the assistant director shouted standby from afar.

“Mr. Jae-hyung, Ms. Saena, are you ready?”

“Yes!”

I put down my phone and entered the set.

This scene was where Ji-hyun, whom I play, begins to suspect Joon-ho, played by Jae-hyung, of being a murderer.

“Ready, action.”

The attic of the pension.

I faced Yoo Joon-ho on the top floor of the pension, which the other characters didn’t know about.

I was still holding the camcorder in my hand.

It was a scene with not many lines.

The strongest possible spark had to fly in the silence between the two.

It was twice as hard as something that could be solved with voice or action.

I was secretly grateful that the other person was Jae-hyung, with whom I had worked several times.

A thin ray of sunlight entered through a small window.

Yoo Joon-ho looked at me and asked dryly.

“Can you put that camera away?”

“Are you uncomfortable?”

I asked in an even drier tone than Yoo Joon-ho.

My gaze was fixed on Yoo Joon-ho’s face in the camcorder.

The sunlight was briefly obscured by a cloud, and the room darkened.

At the same time, half of Yoo Joon-ho’s face was shadowed.

It was an amazing natural light.

“It’s not that I’m confident enough to look good in front of a camera.”

Yoo Joon-ho’s face, who was making a joke, had no smile on it.

I took my eyes off the camcorder and met Yoo Joon-ho’s eyes.

“What did you say you did in Seoul?”

At my question, Yoo Joon-ho turned his head and approached the window.

“…It’s a little unpleasant to be interrogated like this.”

Yoo Joon-ho swept the old dust off the window frame with his index finger.

“It’s surprising that people who came to die are dying, but what’s so strange about it? You want to ask if I killed Kim Gyu-hwan and Kim Min-kyung?”

Yoo Joon-ho looked at me again.

I zoomed in on Yoo Joon-ho’s dusty finger with the camcorder and replied.

“No. Yoo Joon-ho, you’re not on this island for the first time, are you?”

Yoo Joon-ho paused at my words.

It was the first reaction that Yoo Joon-ho, who had always pretended to be relaxed, had shown.

I grabbed the camcorder tightly as if not to miss that moment.

Yoo Joon-ho didn’t answer.

“You seem to know the way around. You even found this pension attic from the first day.”

“Isn’t that the same for you?”

“I followed you. To this attic.”

Yoo Joon-ho looked at me with a cold gaze.

I actually got goosebumps.

I couldn’t show it in front of Yoo Joon-ho.

But the camera would capture a glimpse of fear beneath my composure.

That was the point of my character.

She is a social psychologist who is so obsessed with research that she risks her life, but she feels the same fearful and unfamiliar emotions that others feel.

No, as a psychologist, she feels it even more sensitively, sharply, and sensually.

I made an effort to stand there, enduring Yoo Joon-ho’s murderous intent with my whole body.

Yoo Joon-ho lowered his gaze and looked at my camcorder.

A suffocating silence flowed.

* * *

Outside the attic, Jung Chae-sung, with his hollow eyes, sat in front of the monitor, staring intently at the two actors.

He had the illusion that he could see the dangerous and precarious atmosphere flowing between the two actors.

‘She’s too smart.’

Jung Chae-sung spat out his admiration inwardly.

He was talking about Han Saena.

Of course, veteran actor Kwon Jae-hyung was also doing a skillful job.

But Han Saena was going beyond the realm of doing well.

It was something he had always thought since he first saw Han Saena, but at moments like this, he was simply in awe.

“Cut, okay.”

The staff next to him took a deep breath when they heard the okay.

“Wow, isn’t that crazy? Actor Kwon Jae-hyung is so scary.”

“The acting is so brutal. It’s scary to me.”

“Mr. Jae-hyung! You’re not just a seasoned veteran, are you?”

While the staff all praised Kwon Jae-hyung, Jung Chae-sung quietly replayed the scene he had just filmed.

Jung Chae-sung’s eyes were fixed on Han Saena.

‘The key to making the audience feel fear in a thriller is not the object that presents it. It is the subject who feels it. People feel fear by empathizing with the subject who feels the emotion, not the object.’

It was an old thriller theory.

As is always the case with theories, they are refuted, overturned, and transformed over time.

But the classic premise remains unchanged.

And Han Saena knew exactly that.

If she misinterpreted the character, she could have portrayed Lee Ji-hyun as a person who was only immersed in her research with her eyes covered.

A character that the audience couldn’t empathize with.

But Han Saena knew that the essence of the emotion that Lee Ji-hyun should have was fear.

The only driving force that makes her hold the camcorder is curiosity that goes beyond fear.

In Han Saena’s face in the repeated video, there was not much vitality like Kwon Jae-hyung.

However, only her eyes twinkled strangely.

That point was different from the murderer in front of her.

At the same time, her hand was clutching the camcorder tightly without a place to rely on.

Han Saena’s fingers, which were so tense that blood was not flowing through them, were white.

It was the psychology of Lee Ji-hyun that Jung Chae-sung wanted to express.

Han Saena always had the ability to embody what the director had only felt with his senses and imagined.

And that ability had developed much more than it had during Flat Shoes.

“What on earth is this person….”

At Jung Chae-sung’s quiet words, the assistant director next to him said excitedly.

“Isn’t she amazing? How can she express it so scarily?”

Jung Chae-sung nodded.

* * *

That evening.

I was sharing the lunch boxes that had arrived by boat in the morning with the staff.

“Wow, it’s so cold, I’m going to die!”

“My shoulder is stiff.”

Everyone was putting hot packs all over their bodies and wrapping themselves in padding.

In the end, Kkot-byeol was sniffling as if she had caught a cold.

“If this happens, my voice will sound nasal when I say my lines….”

I stroked Kkot-byeol’s hair, who was already worried about her acting as if she were a pro.

“Then it might feel more realistic? It’s okay to that extent.”

Kkot-byeol nodded her head at my words.

Then Kim Eun-seo, who had been far away, approached me.

“Don’t be surprised… look at the internet.”

Kim Eun-seo’s face, who was quietly speaking only to me so that people couldn’t hear, was serious.

As soon as I saw that face, I instinctively sensed that something had happened.

I got up from my seat and moved to a place where there were no people with Kim Eun-seo.

[Is the Korean Advancement of Overseas OTT [Over-the-top media service], Which Is Full of Friendship, Really Right?]

I stared blankly at the phone screen.

It was the title of a column that appeared on the society page of a major newspaper.

“What is this….”

‘…The starting point of this drama was that an actor recruited close acquaintances to make a video. However, it should have changed when capital came in, staff were attached, and audiences were created. The actor who is currently at the center of this work is controlling the set, from the director to the OST [Original Soundtrack] singer. It is a clear overreach of authority.’

The hand reading the column tightened.

‘In addition, the OTT platform production company, director, and staff are not raising any objections to this. … Shouldn’t we stop the bad habit of letting authorities control the set and participate in and consume the production of a fair cultural content industry?’

This column was spreading rapidly while filming.

When I pressed the refresh button, an article reporting the controversy was being uploaded.

Comments were starting to be posted indiscriminately below it.

-This cronyism is everywhere. Gaehanminguk [South Korea, sarcastically].

-There are only Han Saena articles from the new year. It’s tiring.

-Reflect on yourself instead of dressing up on the island.

-If it’s long, the tail will be caught [idiom meaning secrets will eventually be revealed]. I knew it from the beginning when she pushed out Seo Jae-yeon and Lee Na-ra and took the lead role.

I turned off the article, looking at the comments that were completely opposite to the atmosphere in the morning.

I was getting more and more depressed.

But then a strange article headline caught my eye.

[Actress H, Exposes Han Saena’s Threats]

I pressed the article with a trembling hand.