In This Life I Will Die as an Actress Not a Villainess Chapter 129

“Love that pose! Right there!”

“Wow, amazing!”

A few days later, at a photoshoot where I’d shown up with only my body, soul completely absent.

I lay on a mattress holding a perfume bottle, striking seductive poses and gazes.

Through all this, I hated myself for actually getting better at photoshoot posing, and just stared at the camera lens.

How long had we been shooting?

“Let’s take a quick break!”

Following the staff’s words, I stepped away from the camera momentarily to catch my breath.

I felt like I was losing my mind.

I’m supposed to disappear soon.

What’s the point of doing any of this.

Every moment, with each passing second, the fact that I wasn’t the core personality kept surfacing in my mind.

So just live half-heartedly.

I couldn’t reject that conclusion.

‘Do you really have to send Yu Dayang away?’

Kang Jio’s voice kept echoing in my head too.

During every break, I just sat there staring blankly at my phone’s dark screen.

I couldn’t muster the courage to contact Kang Jio.

It felt like the next time we met, I’d have to say goodbye.

I wasn’t ready for that yet.

Once again hearing the staff shout “Standby!” I jumped to my feet.

Throwing myself into work without thinking seemed like the only answer.

I kept wanting to see Kang Jio.

I wonder what Kang Jio’s doing right now.

* * *

A few days later, at Kang Jio’s house that had somehow become familiar.

“Either way, you’re still managing to turn someone’s insides upside down.”

Kang Jio sat on the sofa smiling as he stroked my hair.

I lay there silently using Kang Jio’s knee as a pillow, feeling his touch.

“Can you tell right away whether I’m Yu Dayang or Yu Hayeong now?”

I asked with a slight edge to my voice.

But Kang Jio just smiled casually as if it didn’t matter.

“Yeah. You’d be an idiot not to tell the difference.”

“Would you be sad if I disappeared?”

I tossed out the question like asking about the weather, as if it were nothing, and Kang Jio’s hand stopped moving.

“…….”

Kang Jio finally opened his mouth.

“Are you really asking because you’re curious?”

“Yeah.”

Kang Jio sighed.

“I don’t want to lose you. I’ve never thought about what comes after losing you.”

“…….”

“Because I’m scared to.”

“Seriously. Since when did you like me this much.”

My words kept coming out wrong, contrary to what I really felt.

Kang Jio laughed hollowly again before getting to the main point.

“You don’t really know Yu Hayeong, do you?”

At that question, I nodded silently.

Kang Jio continued.

“Yu Hayeong doesn’t seem to know much about how you live either, beyond your personality and detailed past.”

“Yeah.”

“Can’t you two accept each other?”

“Accept each other?”

“What if Yu Hayeong learns how to live as Yu Dayang, and Yu Dayang learns Yu Hayeong’s memories.”

At Kang Jio’s suggestion, my mind started racing.

Was that even possible?

Even if it was, would Yu Hayeong want that?

Could this be the script’s true ending?

I sat up and looked at Kang Jio.

Kang Jio stared back at me with a serious expression.

* * *

That night.

I dreamed of meeting my other self.

Inside a small garden bathed in warm sunlight.

I stood there staring directly at myself, wearing a cold, desolate expression.

The moment I saw those eyes, I knew it was Yu Hayeong.

In the strange situation, I couldn’t tell if I was Yu Dayang or Han Sena right now.

While I clung to my hazy consciousness, Yu Hayeong approached me.

Then spoke.

“Disappear. Stop now.”

I stared straight at Yu Hayeong as she said this.

I had something I wanted to tell Yu Hayeong.

“You need me. And I need you too.”

“Don’t fool yourself. I just needed you briefly a long time ago. I created you. I don’t need you anymore.”

I carefully observed Yu Hayeong, who still seemed like a wounded child.

What exactly hurt this person so badly?

“I’m not after your place. I want to protect my own life too.”

“….”

“No one’s hurting you anymore.”

At my words, Yu Hayeong bit her lip as if choked up.

“Being poor. Getting hit for no reason. Having no one look after you. Living in shadows. No one giving you even a glance. You don’t know any of that, do you?”

“…Leave the past behind. Live your own life now.”

“What do you know.”

“You’re right. I don’t know much. So tell me about yourself.”

Yu Hayeong looked at me with a confused expression.

Looking at Yu Hayeong like that, I smiled slightly.

“I’m not usually this nice, you know.”

“…Seriously.”

I held out my hand to Yu Hayeong.

Yu Hayeong looked down at my hand and hesitated.

Taking this hand would change so much going forward.

I waited silently for Yu Hayeong to take my hand.

Yu Hayeong took one step, then two steps toward me.

“Can we do this?”

“I don’t know either. Let’s just try.”

With fear still lingering on her face, Yu Hayeong slowly reached out her hand.

Holding my own hand felt like a sensation I was experiencing for the first time.

I gripped Yu Hayeong’s hand tightly without hurting her.

“I’m counting on you.”

“Me too… I’m counting on you.”

In that moment, dazzling light began spreading from where our hands met.

Startled, my eyes met Yu Hayeong’s.

“Not yet.”

My heart grew urgent.

* * *

“No!”

Late at night, I shot up from where I’d been sleeping.

Startled by my scream, Kang Jio woke up beside me.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

Equally startled, Kang Jio looked at me.

Golden letters appeared before Kang Jio’s face.

‘(5/5)’

<You have completed the mission.>

This fast.

I wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet.

The golden letters faded, and I saw Kang Jio’s face again.

“Kang Jio.”

I called Kang Jio’s name one last time.

“What? Did you have a nightmare?”

I smiled and shook my head.

“No. I had a really good dream.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Thank you.”

“….”

Kang Jio frowned, sensing something was off.

Thanks to the strange events that had been happening, Kang Jio had become as tense as I was, unable to let his guard down even for a moment.

“You’re not leaving, are you? Tell me you’re not.”

Kang Jio asked urgently.

I quickly threw myself into Kang Jio’s embrace.

“I’m not leaving. Just… thank you.”

Kang Jio pulled me tightly into his arms.

I closed my eyes, breathing in Kang Jio’s familiar soap scent.

Slowly, the sensation in my arms wrapped around Kang Jio began fading.

It was time to leave.

‘Take care, Kang Jio.’

In an instant, the world went dark.

In the pitch-black silence, suddenly unfamiliar voices reached me.

‘Goodbye, outsider. Make the people of your world love us.’

‘If you act worse than me, you’re dead. Bye.’

These voices…

Then, feeling like the floor was dropping out beneath me, I saw a small light flickering in the distance.

That light grew closer.

The hazy feeling gradually disappeared as I felt my feet touch solid ground.

The sensation of moving from zero gravity space to Earth.

Then once again, I smelled that familiar soap scent.

“…?”

I slowly opened my eyes.

“Sena-ssi, Sena-ssi!”

As my vision cleared, I saw Lee Seonho’s face supporting me almost in an embrace.

For a long while, I stared at that face unable to grasp the situation.

“Sena-ssi, are you okay??”

Lee Seonho shook me urgently.

At that touch, I swayed and snapped back to my senses.

“Kang Ji… No, Seonho-ssi?”

At that, Lee Seonho let out a relieved sigh.

“You suddenly passed out and scared me.”

Only now did I notice the elevator walls behind Lee Seonho.

Right, I was trapped here.

Just then, with a creaking sound, the elevator doors slowly opened.

“Are you two okay!? Oh, oh my. Sorry to interrupt….”

Someone who appeared to be Lee Seonho’s manager rushed over shouting urgently, then stopped mid-sentence.

They looked flustered seeing us pressed closely together.

Looking at that face made both of us panic and spring apart.

“N-no! It’s not like that!”

“She fainted! Fainted!!”

My manager oppa, who’d come running late, looked at us with eyes demanding an explanation of this situation.

Ugh, this is mortifying.

Seonho-ssi climbed out of the elevator first, his face bright red.

I hurriedly followed behind him.

* * *

First day of filming.

I stood facing Lee Seonho in front of the camera.

“Why do you keep following me around?”

“What?”

“Oh, you want an autograph. You should’ve just said so. Geez! Where should I sign for you?”

“…You don’t remember me? You called me a puppy, not Kang Jio. Son of a bitch.”

“…Me?”

“Are you messing with me right now?”

Lee Seonho frowned and took one step, two steps closer.

Startled, I stumbled backward matching his pace.

“What is this? I heard you were a chaebol. Are you a stalker?”

“The stalker would be you.”

The moment Lee Seonho thrust his face close, I stepped wrong in surprise.

Following romcom cliché law, my balance crumbled in an instant as I fell backward…

Lee Seonho caught my waist with his firm arm.

And then.

In that very brief moment, I closed my eyes and changed my gaze when I opened them.

Then I curved my lips slightly upward and wrapped both arms around Lee Seonho’s neck.

“…?!”

Lee Seonho tried to pull away in shock, but I clung to him without letting go.

“Wh-what are you doing right now?”

I brought my lips close to the flustered Lee Seonho’s ear.

Then whispered softly.

“Why? Isn’t this what you wanted?”

I lowered one arm and slipped my hand inside Lee Seonho’s suit jacket.

Then smoothly pulled out his wallet and dropped it into my handbag.

Meanwhile, Lee Seonho turned his ears bright red, completely unaware.

Then roughly pushed my hand away.

The force sent me stumbling back as I closed my eyes again.

I changed my gaze once more.

Instantly returning as Yu Dayang, I looked around in bewilderment.

I stared at Kang Jio’s furious face in confusion.

“What the hell have you been doing since last time!”

Kang Jio said loudly.

I looked at Kang Jio and answered in an aggrieved tone.

“What did I even do….”

“Hah.”

Kang Jio let out a hollow laugh as if dumbfounded.

“What are you? Do you have multiple personalities?”

I looked at Kang Jio in shock.

An intense stare passed between us.

“Cut! Okay!!”

The director’s okay signal came through the speaker.

I relaxed and smiled at Lee Seonho.

“The first shoot feels good, doesn’t it?”

“How do you make Seonho-ssi’s ears turn red like that?”

“Hm? Oh, well, I just….”

Seonho-ssi mumbled vaguely at my complimentary question while smiling slightly.

“Let’s try once more from the side!”

The assistant director’s voice rang out from the distance.

* * *

Director Shin Cheolwon sat monitoring with his jaw hanging open.

“Wh-what did I just see?”

Han Sena’s portrayal of switching between Baek Jangmi and Yu Dayang’s two personalities like someone possessed was nothing short of extraordinary.

Even until stepping onto set today, Shin Cheolwon had lacked confidence in the script.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he’d only joined because of Han Sena and Lee Seonho’s name value—the script was that difficult and convoluted.

If the project didn’t do well, he’d already inwardly prepared an excuse to blame the rookie writer’s script.

Even if people pointed fingers calling him a coward, that kind of thing didn’t matter in this industry.

Lasting long was far more important than being righteous.

But something completely unexpected had just happened.

“Is this why everyone keeps talking about Han Sena?”

Shin Cheolwon muttered quietly.

After monitoring once more, he fell into thought.

‘That personality switch in the middle—definitely a vixen concept, but there’s something strangely captivating about it?’

When he’d only read the script, he’d thought it teetered dangerously on the edge of being unlikeable.

But with Han Sena’s performance, the raw charm radiating from the script had been refined into something mesmerizing.

Something beyond just a character created to be consumed by the plot’s flow had emerged.

Something that felt alive.

‘I even want to see more of her.’

In the project right before <Say Your Name>, he’d been impressed watching Lee Seonho smoothly pull off every scene.

The rising star showed no signs of getting full of himself, which made him quite likeable.

But watching Han Sena now felt like seeing the female version of Lee Seonho.

The chemistry these two created together was incredibly stable.

How would she express the other personalities?

Shin Cheolwon propped his chin on his hand and grinned.

‘This is going to work.’