In This Life I Will Die as an Actress Not a Villainess Chapter 13

Before I knew it, February had arrived—the tail end of winter.

In a quiet neighborhood beauty salon.

A bizarre scene unfolded: middle-aged women with their hair in rollers gathered in clusters on worn sofas, clutching flower cards in their hands.

But for a neighborhood salon, it was strangely silent…

The women sat with their mouths clamped shut, all their gazes fixed on one spot.

The small TV perched on the salon shelf.

Inside it, Han Sena was delivering an intensely gripping performance.

‘Why couldn’t I? And don’t cross the line. Mother.’

‘Uncle, you should stick to catching whatever scraps fall your way.’

‘Shin Sera, what are you? If you need money, ask for money. If it’s not enough, ask for more and then screw off. Why do you hover in front of me, getting on my nerves?’

“Oh my, oh my, look at that girl glaring.”

“Goodness, she’s ruthless.”

The customers and hairdresser all stopped what they were doing and stared at Yoo Ji-an on the TV screen.

“Wait, unnie. What channel is this? Which one?”

One of the women turned her head toward the hairdresser.

“Don’t know? It just came on when I was flipping channels.”

After hearing the answer, the woman turned her eyes back to the TV.

“How strange… from some place I’ve never even heard of.”

Then, in the next scene that followed, Yoo Ji-an appeared alone, swallowing her tears.

A brief silence fell over the salon.

“Poor thing, though. The girl.”

“No wonder she became so ruthless…”

Even while cursing, the women quickly became absorbed in Yoo Ji-an’s sorrow.

* * *

Early morning, in the set’s waiting room.

I stretched out with a big yawn escaping automatically.

“Hoaaam-. Ugh, I’m dying.”

A few weeks had flown by in the blink of an eye.

During that time, power naps had become standard, I’d slept in lodgings during location shoots in the provinces, and eaten packed lunches from the meal truck all day long…

How on earth did I survive this in my past life?

It was an exhausting schedule that made me want to hurl.

I caught my breath for a moment and opened the script.

The next scene was a family dinner with Yoo Ji-an and Cha Minho’s families.

It was the scene where Yoo Ji-an drops the bombshell that Cha Minho is cheating and mentions Shin Sera’s existence.

I had to throw out lines without being intimidated in front of the senior veteran actors.

I was muttering the dialogue I’d practiced all night when Jieun opened the waiting room door and came in.

But Jieun burst in making a fuss about something.

“Jieun-ssi.”

“Girl. Did you see the viewership ratings for episodes 1 and 2?”

I nodded with a smile.

“0.8 to 1.9. Everyone was buzzing that it more than doubled.”

Then Jieun held out her old-model smartphone showing the chart posted online.

The moment I saw it, I sucked in a sharp breath.

“Episode 3 that just aired yesterday is out now. 2.9 percent. 2.9 percent!!”

My head went blank.

Seeing my shocked expression, Jieun grinned and whispered.

“I overheard the writer and director talking earlier, and they’re predicting at least 4 percent for next week’s episodes.”

“Really?!”

It was better success than I’d expected.

In my past life, Flat Shoes breaking 4% happened at least past the midpoint…

“That’s not all.”

Jieun tapped her phone a few times and showed me the screen again.

They were comments she’d captured from various online community sites.

– This isn’t the general programming channel’s desperation, it’s their revolution.

– Who’s Yoo Ji-an? Her acting is insane. Her face is fresh and distinctive too.

– Honestly, I was amazed by Shin Sera’s face, but after seeing Yoo Ji-an’s acting, I forgot about the face.

Jieun excitedly showed me the real-time search rankings.

The real-time searches were completely plastered with Flat Shoes.

“This is real-time right now?!”

“Yeah, it blew up. Right now. And what’s even more amazing—you’re number one.”

I checked the number one real-time search on the phone Jieun handed me.

‘Han Sena’

My name, those three characters.

I went blank again.

Am I dreaming right now?

If this is some kind of cruel hope, I need to wake up fast.

Then, as if to tell me it wasn’t a dream, Jieun grabbed my arm, pulled me up, and started jumping around.

“Sena-ssi, I knew you’d blow up! Congratulations!”

Just then, one of the staff members entered the waiting room.

“We’re starting filming, Sena-ssi.”

“Ah, right. Yes!”

I let go of Jieun’s hands and caught my breath for a moment.

Still in a daze, I opened the waiting room door and stepped out.

Sure enough, on the film set, the staff were all clutching their phones and buzzing.

In the midst of it all, the director was checking the next cut.

But if you looked closely… the director was just as excited as everyone else.

“All right everyone, calm down. Let’s ride this momentum!”

Despite telling everyone to calm down, the director was the most excited one there.

Several staff members laughed and shouted together.

“Fighting!!”

“Flat Shoes, let’s blow up!”

The voices of staff and cast members burst out from all directions.

The director looked my way.

“Sena-ssi, you ready?”

At those words, all the surrounding sounds momentarily faded away from me with a humming distance.

Just like the first day of filming.

For one very brief moment, people’s gazes toward me felt long and drawn out, as if in slow motion.

I slowly opened my mouth.

“Yes, I’m ready.”

I walked toward the camera.

* * *

Evening returned once again.

I sat in the waiting room practically collapsed.

It wasn’t just me—several cast members were also sitting there in a daze.

My phone buzzed on the table.

It was an unknown number.

“Hello?”

An unfamiliar voice came from the other end.

‘Hello. Is this Han Sena-ssi’s phone?’

“…Yes, this is Han Sena”

‘Oh my, Sena-ssi! Do you remember me? The director of Classic Acting Academy!’

For a moment I doubted my ears.

“Ah? Ahaha… Yes, Director, hello. You’ve been well?”

‘Oh my, I’m watching the drama so well. I knew it, our Sena-ssi would make it big!’

Director, aren’t we talking for the first time?

Classic Academy… that place I’d briefly attended before entering university, then quit after just a week because the system was so terrible.

Besides, I’d never even had a conversation with the director besides greetings.

‘It’s nothing major, but our Sena-ssi is a graduate of our academy, right? Could you do us a favor with some promotion?’

“Pardon?”

What is this?

‘Our Sena-ssi is still young so you might not know, but these things are all about helping each other—mutual benefit.’

When he even slipped into informal speech, my brow furrowed automatically.

‘I’m counting on you, yeah?’

The sensation of blowing up as a newcomer came back vividly.

When viewer reactions increased, people I’d never interacted with would contact me indiscriminately like this.

Back then, and now.

Before, I’d been anxious about potential backlash and agreed to every request from every acquaintance, running myself ragged.

I need to cut this off now.

“Director, thank you so much for reaching out. But oh, I just don’t have the time. I’ll contact you later through the company!”

I hung up immediately.

This level of experience was basic now.

Yu-ri, who’d been listening to the conversation, giggled.

“Girl, looks like you really blew up. After debuting, there are apparently even jerks trying to sell you insurance or sponsorships?”

A supporting actor walking into the waiting room answered instead.

“It’s seriously no joke. People asking to watch filming or begging for other actors’ autographs are just cute. Sena-ssi, you’ll be pretty tired for a while.”

Park Hoon sunbaenim, who entered after, added a comment.

“Oh my, Sena-ssi’s going to become a superstar now. You better not forget about me later.”

Hearing that, I waved my hands.

“Oh, sunbaenim. What are you saying?”

Playful laughter spread through the waiting room.

“Well, our Sena-ssi needs to keep acting well. Girl, fighting.”

“Everyone, let’s fight!”

“Let’s make it big, everyone.”

The waiting room atmosphere quickly became warm.

The actors started warming up one by one and left the waiting room.

Left alone in the waiting room, I closed my eyes for a moment and leaned my head against the wall…

Buzz—

Another vibration came from the pocket where I’d put my phone.

I checked—another unknown number.

Even though I didn’t answer, the phone kept ringing multiple times.

I finally took out my phone.

“Hello.”

“Is this actress Han Sena-ssi’s number?”

“Yes, it is. Who’s calling?”

That voice sounds somehow familiar…?

“Hello, Han Sena-ssi. This is Yang Euichul, management director at AK Agency.”

“…”

For a moment, my thought process cut out as if I’d been struck on the head.

Silence flowed through the waiting room.

“Hello? Han Sena-ssi?”

“Ah, yes. Hello.”

My expression soured automatically.

The thought of cigarettes I’d quit came to mind unbidden.

“I’m sorry, you must be surprised. Normally I’d contact you through a manager, but I had no way to reach you.”

“Ah, yes…”

Right now, I was grateful this bastard was calling on the phone.

Because my expression was probably rotting away without me even seeing it.

“It’s nothing major, but you know our company without me explaining, right? Haha.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Would you be interested in building a good relationship with our company?”

Hah…

At those words, I exhaled a long breath inaudibly, like blowing out cigarette smoke.

Yang Euichul…

So he’s finally come.

Yang Euichul was the protagonist who’d tormented me endlessly during my long, tenacious nightmare with the agency.

The greatest villain of my life.

In my previous life too, Yang Euichul had contacted me around this exact time.

Back then, young and inexperienced, I’d believed only that AK was a top-three major agency and rashly signed a ten-year contract.

After that, my life slowly plummeted.

It would’ve been better to make a contract with the devil.

The company marketed me exclusively as a villain specialist actress for ten years, solidifying and selling off my image.

And by the time the juice had been squeezed from my image and I’d been discarded by the public, the contract ended.

That must have been their plan from the start.

Yang Euichul and the company were shrewd and calculating.

For me, the ten-year contract was shackles I couldn’t easily escape.

Thanks to that, even when I wanted to escape the villain life, I never could, not even once.

I calmed my emotions for a moment and thought.

‘If I refuse, Yang Euichul will definitely pull ‘that move.”

But I’m already prepared for that too.

Because I’m familiar with it.

“Director, thank you so much for the offer. Let me think about it and I’ll contact you.”

“You’re the first actress who needs to think about our company! Hahaha.”

Yang Euichul laughed, pretending to be magnanimous.

“I understand there will be many other agency offers coming in at this time. But don’t take too long!”

“Yes, understood.”

I hung up and deflected the contract offer.

Tension released and a deep sigh escaped.

To cleanly shake off Yang Euichul, I’d have to rack my brain for a while going forward.

I should prepare myself mentally for the time being…

Suddenly the craving for cigarettes became desperate.

I started to put my phone back in my pocket, then took it out and powered it off.

I opened the waiting room door and headed toward the set.