In This Life I Will Die as an Actress Not a Villainess Chapter 120

Fifteen minutes before the Han Sena Guerrilla Fan Meeting.

Even though it was past rush hour, people were packed so tightly in the subway there wasn’t a single space to step.

Among them, high school girls wearing the same uniforms were stomping their feet impatiently.

“Aaah, we can’t be late!!”

“We won’t be late. But there won’t be any seats.”

“How can they announce it on the morning of?!”

“Ha… did you see this post? It’s hilarious.”

One of the high school girls scrolled through the internet and showed a post to her friend.

It was a popular post that had been heating up the community since this morning.

[Han Sena Fan Meeting Happening.]

??: Fan meeting happening.

Fan: Gasp, finally. When?!

??: 3…

Fan: 3… weeks from now?

??: 3… 2… 1…

Fan: ??!?!?

The high school girl who read the post burst out laughing.

“Ah, this is so funny. It’s perfect.”

‘This is Hongdae Station, Hongdae Station.’

At that moment, the subway announcement informing them of their arrival at Hongdae rang out.

“Aaah, get off quick!!”

The high school girls made a fuss as they rushed toward the doors.

But people in exactly the same situation as the high school girls had all crowded near the doors.

“Wow, seriously, what is this!”

“Are they all going to see Han Sena?”

* * *

The same time.

The roads around Hongdae were already paralyzed.

Inside one of the black vans stuck in traffic on all sides.

Looking at the cars surrounding them front, back, and both sides, the man holding the wheel clicked his tongue.

“Are they crazy? Why is traffic this bad?”

The man sitting in the back seat who’d been reading a script looked up at the manager’s words and glanced out the window to survey the situation.

On the cover of the script the man was holding, <Say Your Name> was written.

“I heard they’re doing something nearby today.”

The man’s small face reflected in the window.

Fair skin with sharp, long eyes, a straight nose, and thin red lips.

And the slightly upturned corners of both lips that created a mysterious atmosphere, contrasted with the thick, solid shoulders that stood out against his narrow face…

It was Lee Seonho.

“Ah, that’s right. The Han Sena Guerrilla Fan Meeting!”

After hearing Lee Seonho’s words, the manager remembered and shouted out.

“Han Sena?”

Lee Seonho repeated Han Sena’s name in his soft, melodious voice.

“Yeah, it’s that new variety show starting soon. The internet’s been crazy about it all day today. You didn’t see?”

“Ah.”

Hearing those words, Lee Seonho smiled faintly.

“As expected, Han Sena’s amazing.”

“These days, lots of people want to work with Han Sena, right?”

“Like me?”

At Lee Seonho’s words, the manager laughed.

“Yeah. But you know, even so. You rejected the script because it was too hard, but then jumped in immediately just because Han Sena got cast—wasn’t that too fast?”

“It’s understandable though. She’s incredibly popular right now.”

“Right. Even I can see she’s truly top-tier among actresses in their twenties when it comes to acting.”

“I think so too. There’s something different about her compared to other actors.”

The manager nodded.

Then Lee Seonho added one more comment.

“She’s pretty too.”

At that, the manager looked at Lee Seonho through the rearview mirror.

“Wow, Lee Seonho can say things like that?”

“Huh??”

Lee Seonho looked flustered as he stared at his manager, and the manager chuckled.

“So you’re a guy after all. I thought you had no interest in women.”

The manager continued chattering like that for a while.

Then when the car still wouldn’t budge, he sighed again.

“Ah, seriously. We’re going to be sleeping here tonight.”

Lee Seonho answered as if it didn’t matter.

“All my schedules are done anyway. It’s fine.”

“I want to go home though?!”

At that moment, the traffic light turned green and cars finally started moving.

“Ugh, forget it. Let’s take a different route.”

The manager turned the wheel and entered a smaller road.

But just then.

Through the window in the distance, he could see crowds gathered in a large plaza.

“Oh, that must be it.”

The manager stared intently toward the plaza.

Lee Seonho also raised his head again and looked out the window.

On a large screen, Han Sena’s face was playing.

Han Sena was crying with a deeply moved expression on her face.

A very brief moment.

Lee Seonho stared intently at Han Sena’s face with reddened eyes.

Han Sena smiled brightly as she wiped away the flowing tears.

Watching that, Lee Seonho smiled lightly.

The road cleared, and the manager pressed the accelerator again.

* * *

The fan meeting proceeded in earnest.

“We skipped academy to come here today!!”

“Unnie, I love you!”

The high school girls who’d won the hug event rushed onto the stage screaming and shouting.

Seeing them made me burst out laughing.

“You can’t skip academy! This is going to be on TV though?”

Bang Chaehyuk also laughed hard as he teased the high school girls.

“Aaaak, no! Mom, Dad, sorry!!”

“Teacher, I’m sorry!”

Laughter erupted from the audience at the lively high schoolers.

I hugged each of those high school girls with a smile.

For a moment, they reminded me of Kkotbyeol.

After the high school girls swept through the audience and went down, soldiers, a grandmother, and a group of male students also came up one by one.

After the hug time ended like that.

“Now then, Sena-ssi will read a letter she prepared for the fans. Everyone’s looking forward to it, right?”

Bang Chaehyuk smiled as he encouraged the crowd’s response.

People cheered in unison and pulled out their phone cameras.

Before I knew it, it was time to read the letter I’d prepared.

With trembling hands, I pulled the paper from my back pocket.

I’d received countless letters from fans, but I’d never written one myself.

I grabbed the microphone Lee Yul handed me and cleared my voice.

“Hello, everyone. This is Han Sena.”

“Waaaah-!!”

Hearing people’s voices, I smiled brightly.

“Standing on this stage like this, I feel wrapped in your smiles and responses the entire time. Thank you to everyone who made the long trip here despite this being such a sudden fan meeting.”

After a brief greeting, I started reading down the handwritten text I’d brought.

“I prepared a letter to express my gratitude to all of you at this special occasion today. You may not know this, but you fans are the most precious people in my acting career. I’m just doing my job, yet having people who passionately like and support me feels like a dream and like magic to me.”

These were words I’d prepared while pouring in my sincerity.

“When good things happen, you celebrate with me, and when hard things happen, you hurt with me—now you all feel like my companions. Whenever I was lonely and struggling, I desperately wished companions like this would appear. Heaven has granted that wish.”

My heart swelled.

Who would’ve known that getting a second chance at life would let me enjoy so much?

“I want to give back to all of you. So that your feelings of liking me won’t be embarrassing, I’ll go further and higher. I’ll make the gazes of everyone watching over me into my compass.”

Finally, I lifted my eyes from the letter and looked at the fans sitting in front of the stage.

“Let’s keep seeing each other for a long time. From Han Sena.”

Here and there in the audience, I saw some familiar faces.

They were friends who’d often followed me to fan meetings and filming sites to cheer me on.

All those fans were crying.

When I made eye contact with them, tears welled up in my eyes too.

“Ugh, I’m crying!!”

I made a fuss as I hurriedly wiped away my tears.

Beside me, Bang Chaehyuk grabbed the microphone again.

Then he skillfully changed the topic and shifted the mood.

“Now that we’ve squeezed out all those tears, what do we need to do?!”

Beside him, Lee Yul answered energetically.

“Dance time!! Music, please!”

Aaak, these people!

Music that felt loud enough to blow my ears off started playing on stage.

In the end, I squeezed my eyes shut and started flailing my arms and legs.

* * *

[Han Sena Guerrilla Fan Meeting Records 4.7% Viewership Rating]

[Han Sena Guerrilla Fan Meeting Paralyzes Hongdae! Explosive Response]

[Tearful Fan Meeting, Full Text of Han Sena’s Letter]

Right after the fan meeting broadcast aired.

The reactions were far more intense than I’d expected.

From the fan cafe to community posts, new content kept being created every minute.

[The Story of How My Actor Asked Me on a Date on the Subway]

[Han Sena In-Person Review]

[Welcome to Han Sena World]

[Seriously, there’s no daughter more filial than this. Everyone, get into Han Sena.]

[Is She an Actor or a Comedian.]

[So When’s the Next Project Coming Out?]

But the moment I checked that last post, articles about <Say Your Name>’s broadcast scheduling confirmation started appearing at miraculous timing.

I’d already received word about the scheduling from the production company last night.

It would air on SCBS.

Following <Be Actors>, I’d ended up working with them again.

But for articles to come out this fast…

I could feel the production company’s unwavering determination to get the articles out quickly, promote early, and secure ratings in advance.

While lightly scanning through the articles like that…

[Tight Competition in Weekday Prime Time Mini-Series Predicted. Han Sena, Lee Seonho vs Seo Jaeyeon, Sung Minhui!!]

“…?”

[‘UBN vs SCBS’ Long-Time Rivals’ Showdown! Who Will Win?]

[Seo Jaeyeon vs Han Sena! Battle of Rom-Com Queens, Old vs New]

[Han Sena Who Beat Lee Nara, Now Even Seo Jaeyeon?]

“What is this.”

News was spreading everywhere that the drama Seo Jaeyeon would be joining had been scheduled for the same time slot as <Say Your Name>.

My thought process stopped momentarily.

At that moment, my phone vibrated.

It was Seo Jaeyeon.

I stared at the screen for a moment before pressing the call button.

“…”

-Did you see the articles?

“Yes.”

-Let’s be friends. Stop using formal speech.

“When did you hear about this news?”

-I didn’t hear about it that long ago either.

After saying that, Seo Jaeyeon also fell silent for a moment.

An awkward silence flowed between us.

Seo Jaeyeon spoke first again.

-Well, it’s become a somewhat uncomfortable situation. But it wasn’t something I intended at all.

“Of course. I know that.”

-And Minhui wasn’t someone I brought in either—the director cast her directly.

Seo Jaeyeon explained the whole situation to me like it really bothered her.

But hearing Seo Jaeyeon rush through her words for the first time made me suddenly laugh.

“Pfft.”

-…?

“Thanks for calling me like this. No, thank you.”

-…

Then I heard Seo Jaeyeon chuckle over the phone too.

Hearing that laugh somehow made me feel a bit relieved.

From now on, all that remained was an uncomfortable situation where we’d be competing directly over ratings, but I was grateful she’d called me without hesitation.

At times like this, she shows so much more consideration than usual.

But that touching moment was brief.

-Either way, we’re taking the ratings. Prepare yourself.

“…”

-Both Lee Seonho and you need to taste defeat sometime. Good luck then.

Seo Jaeyeon hung up abruptly.