In This Life I Will Die as an Actress Not a Villainess Chapter 146

Somewhere remote in Saipan, where the emerald sea stretched endlessly.

I took a deep breath while gazing at the heart-opening scenery from the boat.

“Wow, this is amazing!”

The director, actors, and staff members all laughed as they jumped into the ocean one by one.

I put on my goggles and splashed into the water.

We were all experiencing snorkeling together, peering into the underwater world.

Shin Jaejun and the director, who were afraid of water, stayed on the boat taking photos, while Lee Seonho and several staff members showed off their advanced swimming skills.

I stuck my head underwater again to watch the fish swimming around.

The clear ocean floor, visible all the way down.

Coral, sand, and countless species of fish mingled together in harmony.

Lee Seonho dove to the deepest point and swam freely among the fish.

Then he suddenly spotted me and gestured for me to come over.

‘No way! I’m scared.’

When I made an X with my arms, Lee Seonho approached with a playful expression.

Ack, stay back.

Lee Seonho reassured me as if to say it was okay, then held out his hand.

I watched him for a moment, then cautiously took his hand.

Lee Seonho grinned with his eyes and pulled me down.

Down, deeper and deeper…

I felt a strange sensation watching the unknown fish pass by me.

We reached the ocean floor like that.

Lee Seonho pointed somewhere.

The surface above, where sunlight shimmered.

‘Whoa…’

I gazed at the sight, completely entranced.

Living creatures moving freely overhead, and light scattering in dazzling fragments.

‘It’s beautiful.’

Lee Seonho, reading my expression, grinned again with his eyes.

Before I knew it, the tension had melted away, and I gave Lee Seonho a thumbs up.

Lee Seonho held out his hand again, as if suggesting we head back up.

* * *

After playing around to our hearts’ content, we collapsed on the hot sandy island.

Sipping coconut water while lying under a parasol.

“Are you really an actress?”

The two cinematographers approached with amused laughs.

Team B’s cinematographer, who’d worked on <Flat Shoes> with me before, sat down beside me and cracked open a cold beer.

“Hey, give me one too!”

Then the director handed me a beer and opened another for himself.

We all clinked our bottles together. “Cheers!” We gulped them down.

“Ahh. Now I feel alive.”

“Mm, delicious.”

Team B’s director looked at me and laughed with genuine amusement.

“What, Director?”

I asked, confused.

“Sena-ssi, you seem much brighter than before.”

“Huh?”

“What, was she not like this before?”

The other director joked playfully.

The three of us laughed together, then Team B’s director spoke again.

“No, it’s not that. Even before, she was skilled and always polite. But there was this hard-to-approach feeling?”

“Oh, was I like that?”

I smiled awkwardly at hearing this for the first time.

“Yeah. Even when you smiled, I never got the impression you were genuinely happy. But now you talk more freely and laugh more, so it’s nice to see.”

Hearing those words made me smile bashfully.

“You’ve just gotten a bit older.”

The other director took a sip of beer and lay back.

“Getting older released some of your tension.”

I laughed again at those words.

“That’s not a bad thing. People need to relax a bit to live. That’s when you get comfortable.”

Team B’s director also flopped back down.

“Right. Otherwise, you won’t last long in this industry especially.”

I gazed at the ocean while taking in their words, getting sentimental.

Many faces flashed through my mind.

From Yang Euichul to countless people I’d met in my past life, Minyeong unnie, Lee Seokhyun, Teacher Yoon Youngjae, Writer Lee Siyeong, Lee Seonho, Mom, Dad…

And the memories from my past life when I’d always been desperately scrambling just to survive.

Compared to then, I was living with far more breathing room now.

Just like the director said—laughing freely, enjoying things, occasionally crying when I wanted to.

Lost in these reflective thoughts by myself, I was suddenly jolted by the thunderous sound of two directors snoring.

“…Seriously?”

It sounded like drills.

That’s when Lee Seonho and Shin Jaejun came running at full speed from far away, waving their hands.

“?”

“The person who’s it has to do the hula dance penalty at the restaurant tonight!!!”

“What? Ugh, no way!!”

I shot up and started sprinting.

My feet burned against the hot sand.

* * *

That day, the person who was it turned out to be the art director.

Wearing a flower crown and a grass-leaf skirt, the director climbed onto the stage in the center of the restaurant.

The director, with his protruding belly, clumsily learned the dance from the instructor and shook his body around.

Our table erupted in absolute hysterics.

Everyone raised their cameras in unison to capture the director’s dance.

The director, who turned out to be more of a natural performer than expected, rode the excitement and came all the way to the front of the stage to dance.

Even the foreign tourists burst into cheers and applause.

“Ah, I’m dying. This is seriously hilarious.”

“Why is he shaking his belly like that?”

“Kim Seongkwang is seriously funny. He never said a word before.”

After a while, the flashy lights finally dimmed…

Having finished watching the wild dance show, everyone grabbed plates and headed to the barbecue grill.

Huge steaks, lobsters, shrimp, and various vegetables sizzled on the grill.

“Wow, looks delicious!”

“Let the director eat first… We made him bust a gut laughing.”

“No, Seongkwang. When did you get so funny?”

The art director, who’d come down from the stage, grabbed food onto his plate with his usual expressionless face.

But just then.

Several plates suddenly pushed their way into the bustling crowd.

“?”

I turned around to find people who nearly made me faint.

“Ahhh! What?!?!”

“Give me some meat too.”

The person holding a plate with a pretty eye-smile was…

“Seo Jaeyeon…?”

Seo Jaeyeon.

“Me too, me too!!”

And Sung Minhui was also grinning beside her.

What am I looking at right now?

Am I dreaming?

Seeing our team’s dumbfounded faces, the <Powerful Woman> team staff burst out laughing.

“We’re on a reward vacation too!”

“Reward vacation? To Saipan too??”

“After hearing <Say Your Name> got a reward vacation, they said don’t feel inferior and sent us to the same place.”

It seemed the broadcasting companies had been paying attention after our reward vacation made major headlines.

“What a twisted fate.”

“Ugh, there’s no worse connection than this.”

“We had no idea we’d run into you at this restaurant either!”

Staff members who knew each other from different teams shook their heads.

Even so, they seemed happy as they started greeting each other.

The restaurant became twice as lively, overflowing with energy.

But just then, Sung Minhui asked with a curious expression.

“But are Lee Seonho-ssi and Sena-ssi… really dating?”

Gasp.

The chatter abruptly cut off as sudden silence descended around us.

Lee Seonho, who’d been standing there chewing vegetables, choked and coughed violently.

Our team’s staff members rolled their eyes around, exchanging glances with each other.

“What? What’s with this atmosphere? What’s going on?”

The staff around us quickly scattered to avoid answering.

Seo Jaeyeon narrowed her eyes and stared at me.

“It’s a lie, right?”

Uh, what should I do?

Is it okay to reveal it’s a lie like this?

I stammered in confusion, but then Lee Seonho approached.

“Hello, Jaeyeon-ssi. It’s been a while.”

Lee Seonho greeted Seo Jaeyeon politely.

“Yes, Seonho-ssi.”

It was the second time they’d met since the cameo appearance.

Lee Seonho exchanged pleasantries.

“I’ve been watching the show.”

Then he said.

“The articles already came out… There’s nothing for us to clarify separately.”

Sung Minhui and the surrounding staff tilted their heads at Lee Seonho’s ambiguous words.

Seo Jaeyeon, sensing Lee Seonho and I were uncomfortable, took a step back.

“Right, well. You two handle it yourselves.”

I also tried to maintain my composure.

Our team’s staff members just sat quietly at the table, chewing their food.

Though their eyes remained fixed on us with interest.

Several <Powerful Woman> team staff members groaned and pulled money out of their pockets.

They handed the money to other staff members.

“…?”

I watched, wondering what was happening.

“Damn, I bet wrong.”

“See, I told you it’s real. Who’d be crazy enough to create a scandal just to promote a drama?”

“Let’s use this money to buy drinks!”

Whoa…

Lee Seonho and I both made bewildered expressions at the same time.

It seemed they’d bet on whether our scandal was real or fake.

And apparently everyone who saw us together became convinced we were actually dating.

Seo Jaeyeon narrowed her eyes and glared at me.

I smiled awkwardly at her.

Seo Jaeyeon, who’d seen right through me more than I expected, must have naturally assumed it wasn’t real.

In fact, even when the scandal articles exploded and all the media went crazy, Seo Jaeyeon hadn’t contacted me once.

I hadn’t bothered to say anything either…

We’d tacitly understood between us that this scandal was fake.

But Seo Jaeyeon seemed confused now too.

“You. If this is a lie, you’re dead.”

“……”

My neck instantly went cold.

Lee Seonho also gulped nervously beside me.

Sung Minhui kept exclaiming “Oh my, oh my, jackpot” repeatedly.

What should we do about this?

The moment Seo Jaeyeon and Sung Minhui turned away, Lee Seonho and I exchanged looks that said we were screwed.

* * *

The next morning.

We arrived at the go-kart track together with the <Powerful Woman> team.

Under the blazing sun, a winding course stretched out long.

Staff members who’d been drinking all night watched the zooming karts while nursing their hangovers.

Lee Seonho, who’s particularly weak with alcohol, had already thrown up three times on the way here.

Throughout the party that night, I ultimately couldn’t find the right timing to explain things to Seo Jaeyeon.

Carrying those uncomfortable feelings all the way here.

Seo Jaeyeon, who can handle alcohol amazingly well on top of everything else, grabbed the steering wheel without a single trace of a hangover.

Seo Jaeyeon looked at me and asked.

“Hey, want to make a bet with me?”

Figures.

“Sure. What are we betting?”

I also climbed into the kart and gripped the steering wheel.

“Hmm… A hundred million?”

“What are you talking about?”

Seo Jaeyeon burst out laughing at her own joke.

“Then let’s bet any wish.”

“Okay.”

“3, 2, 1!”

The light turned green, and Seo Jaeyeon and I simultaneously slammed on the gas.