In This Life I Will Die as an Actress Not a Villainess Chapter 115

A nearby bar.

“Come on, drink up!”

“Let me join in too.”

“Oh, Jaehyeong-ssi’s here? Sit down quick!”

Jaehyeong-ssi arrived late after finishing up a separate schedule.

Even Park Hoon sunbaenim, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, was here.

“Everyone cheers!”

Right after we all toasted together, sounds of satisfaction rang out from every direction.

Then the catch-up chatter flowed nonstop.

When my turn came, as expected, I was bombarded with Be Actors questions.

“How did you even think of becoming a mentor?”

“Were those coaching methods you showed on the broadcast actually what you practiced with Sena-ssi?”

“Hwang Yuseon-ssi was kind of different from her usual image—what was she like?”

And so on.

While I was answering the questions one by one, Jaehyeong-ssi, who’d been listening quietly, lit up.

“Which company is Kim Yeongi-ssi going to?”

There are so many people coveting my mentees.

Hearing the question made me grin.

It was something to feel good about.

“I heard she’s torn between Bluebird Entertainment and True Actors right now.”

“She’s already signed with another company though, right?”

“Right, she came on as a trainee.”

Jaehyeong-ssi nodded.

In fact, both companies I’d mentioned were willing to take on Yeongi’s penalty fees and compensation costs despite her being under contract elsewhere.

All three of the top rising actor-focused entertainment companies were competing over Kim Yeongi.

That’s when Yuri-ssi chimed in.

“Lee Hyoseo-ssi seems like she’ll take a different path, right?”

I nodded slightly at that question.

Hyoseo had also received tons of offers from other companies.

However, I’d heard that her current agency, not wanting to lose both Yeongi and Hyoseo, had offered drastically favorable contract terms.

On top of the financial conditions, they’d given her full authority to choose her projects.

From my perspective too, staying with her current company was advantageous for Hyoseo.

Jaehyeong-ssi spoke playfully.

“I heard our company reached out to Yeongi-ssi too. Put in a good word for us.”

“Oh please, I don’t get involved with my mentees’ agency contacts.”

When I waved my hands, Jaehyeong-ssi clicked his tongue regretfully and drank his beer.

I followed suit and took a sip of my beer.

That’s when Sohyeon’s face came to mind—she’d placed disappointingly in the finals.

‘Mentor, I’m going abroad to study!’

Sohyeon’s bright, clear voice echoed in my ears.

Sohyeon hadn’t cared about the rankings at all, cheerfully planning her next steps.

When she’d surprised me with the news, grinning from ear to ear, Sohyeon said she had so much to learn and had been inspired by Yeongi and Hyoseo’s acting to try experimental performances.

I’d known she was kind of a wealthy young lady type, but apparently she had plenty of money and international experience already.

Sohyeon, who even bragged about speaking French, told me she was going to a French acting academy.

I’d given Sohyeon my strongest words of encouragement.

‘You’ll do great wherever you go. I predict we’ll run into each other in the industry within three years at least. Let’s meet up soon?’

There hadn’t been a single lie in those words of support.

I genuinely had a feeling all my mentees would appear in the industry soon.

This way and that, everyone was walking their own paths well.

Now I just need to do well myself.

I took another sip of beer and this time thought of the scripts piled on Minyeong unnie’s office table.

* * *

Finally, Seoul Fashion Week day.

With a nervous heart, I finished the rehearsal and steadied my breathing.

Three total outfits to wear on the runway.

Right before the show, backstage was practically a war zone.

Everyone was running around frantically.

My side had been getting makeup done for over two hours.

It was the most elaborate makeup I’d received recently.

I turned my face this way and that in front of the mirror, surprised by how thick it was.

“It’ll probably look like natural dewy makeup under the lights.”

The makeup team seemed to read my mind.

Ah…

I nodded, recalling the blinding lights from rehearsal.

That’s when one of the models sitting next to me glanced at me and left some cool advice.

“Add the flash and your eyes will hurt. You need to really tense them up.”

“Ah… thank you.”

Is this a model industry thing?

Everyone seems kind of tsundere.

Thinking that, I kept sneaking peeks at the model next to me, who had the body of a literal goddess.

How is she so thin but still has elasticity?

“Um… what’s your name?”

I worked up the courage to ask.

“Kim Laila. You’re Actor Han Sena-ssi, right?”

The model smiled slightly as she answered.

I asked Laila-ssi in an even more ingratiating voice.

“Yes. But how do you even manage your body?”

“It’s all the same. Eat just enough not to die, exercise enough to die.”

“Ah…”

I fell silent at the crisp, brutal answer.

The makeup team started working on my hair.

My hair was parted 8:2, with flyaways naturally falling around my face as they created an updo.

Finally, a gold leaf-shaped pin was inserted at the back of my head.

My eyes widened at the increasingly unfamiliar completed version of myself.

The moment the hair styling finished, the wardrobe team approached and guided me to the small curtained changing area.

“I’ll put on the first outfit right away.”

The first outfit was a cheolik dress-style piece with elaborate Western lace and mesh overlays.

The dress resembled ocean waves in its blue color and was made of such thin material it seemed ready to float away in the wind.

With every movement, the dress rippled and swayed, revealing my body’s curves without filter.

Delicate, refined gold patterns were embroidered from the waist down to the hips.

Phoenix embroidery adorned the shoes that peeked out slightly below the dress with each step.

When I quickly changed into the dress and came out, multiple gazes poured over me.

“Wow, so beautiful.”

“Sena-ssi, you could even work as a model?”

“Wait, you asked me how to diet and everything. Your figure’s gorgeous.”

Laila-ssi rolled her eyes slightly and smiled.

Hearing praise from industry models made my heart pound, though it hadn’t reacted during rehearsal.

That’s when sounds from the show starting reached me from the runway.

Majestic background music played and lights moved dazzlingly.

A staff member shouted toward me.

“Han Sena-ssi, standby! You’ll go up right away!”

I quickly pushed down my nerves and snapped into focus.

I hurried over with quick steps to stand backstage.

I took one final deep breath.

There was little time to steady myself.

“You’re going up.”

I immediately wiped away any nervous expression.

Then I stepped onto the runway with the look I’d practiced hundreds of times.

Blinding lights, cameras, and phone flashes flooded my vision.

I couldn’t even see the audience.

Still, without paying attention to anything, I extended my hand.

Then I elegantly grasped a bit of the dress hem, fixed my gaze straight ahead, and moved forward step by step.

It was powerful walking, just as Hira-ssi had taught me.

Reaching the end of the runway, I leisurely swept my eyes across the audience once, then tilted my head slightly and lowered my gaze.

It was an elegant yet dreamy, restrained gesture matching the outfit’s concept.

After a brief pose, I turned and walked back toward the wings.

I felt people’s gazes following my figure all the way.

Back in the wings again.

As the show hit full swing, both staff and models were running around frantically, each finding their positions.

Before I could even process the feeling of my first walk, I quickly grabbed the second dress and rushed into the changing area.

This time it was a vegan leather two-piece hanbok.

The deep brown glossy leather created a sexy, chic atmosphere.

The makeup team rushed over and applied thick smoky makeup to my eyes.

“You’re going up right away!”

And so I stepped onto the runway for the second time.

Lights that had turned violet wrapped softly around me.

I crossed the runway at a faster pace.

Walking had become much easier by now.

At the end of the runway, I placed one hand on my waist with the corners of my lips slightly raised.

After holding the pose for a few seconds, I turned my body again.

After returning backstage, I received touch-up makeup in another frenzy.

My head was already spinning.

Do models endure this dizzying, chaotic work every single day?

I clicked my tongue while getting makeup and having my hair taken down, when the finale time approached like lightning.

The final dress decorating the grand finale was a spectacular Silla-style dress.

A voluminous dress emphasizing Korean beauty through the contrast between deep red and blue.

Gold accessories adorned my arms and ears.

I moved my limbs carefully to loosen up.

For the finale, I planned to incorporate the dance I’d been seriously learning.

“You’re going up right away!”

Hearing the staff’s now-familiar urging, I immediately stepped onto the runway.

The runway lights dimmed, and gayageum sounds began filling the hall.

Before walking down the runway, I extended both arms in one direction and bent my legs to begin the dance.

Then, slowly stepping in rhythm, I moved forward to the front of the stage.

I could feel everyone—audience, staff, models—holding their breath and watching my every movement.

I adjusted my steps, beats, and speed with the music, slowly building to the climax.

Before I knew it, I’d reached the end of the runway, stepping lightly as I spun and sank down slightly with my hands gathered at my chest.

Several layers of specially treated fabric spread out with a flutter, painting a pastel rainbow.

The true finale of this show.

Lighting that had changed to warm colors wrapped around me like moonlight.

As I slowly rose from my position, applause poured down like rain along with a barrage of flashes.

I walked backstage, stepping on that applause like it was a path.

* * *

The same time.

Jegal Seohyeong, a representative from the international luxury brand ‘De Mesh’, was watching Han Sena on the runway.

Around the time Han Sena finished her dance and headed inside, Jegal Seohyeong finally uncrossed the arms he’d kept folded the entire time.

‘My god, what did I just see.’

When he’d heard some actress would handle the fashion show finale, he’d figured it was just a small show—one of those things where fleeting superstars briefly dip their toes in.

For Jegal Seohyeong, attending this fashion show had been a forced business trip, dragged here because of ties to London Fashion Week.

Especially as someone with pride in the modeling industry, Jegal Seohyeong had been avoiding Seoul Fashion Week, feeling it had degraded into a place for flaunting celebrity name recognition.

And as for Han Sena—he’d only encountered her through films and dramas.

She still had rookie-level recognition in the modeling world.

But… Han Sena’s stage had been the most original, beautiful, and distinctive of any fashion show runway he’d seen recently.

Even the slightly awkward walking, unfamiliar to her, seemed to add charm to the stage, coloring it with purity.

Jegal Seohyeong habitually bounced his leg and bit his nails.

‘Who is that woman.’

Jegal Seohyeong furrowed his brow seriously.

Intuitively, instinctively, strangely—an odd phrase floated into his mind.

A new muse.

A new model with a mask, walking, and filmography all fresh and mysteriously captivating.

Jegal Seohyeong, who’d sworn to always follow instinct over reason, quickly turned and exited the venue.