In This Life I Will Die as an Actress Not a Villainess Chapter 163

Ten days after the commentary recording, at the Yoha Short Film Festival awards ceremony.

The American schedule hadn’t ended—it just kept growing.

The plan to finish everything in the US fell through completely, and I ended up flying back and forth between both countries to handle my commitments.

After wrapping up several commercial shoots and narration recordings back in Korea, I headed to the short film festival in casual clothes and met up with Roddy and the director.

“Never thought we’d all meet up again at a place like this.”

I greeted the director with an awkward smile.

“I knew we would.”

Roddy stood beside us just gazing around the festival venue with an overwhelmed expression, snapping photos.

“Your acting debut’s turning out pretty spectacular, Roddy.”

“Ah, I feel so good!”

The three of us stood side by side and happily took some pictures together.

That’s when various American directors, producers, and musicians who’d attended the festival started approaching our team to say hello.

“Sena Han? So great to meet you! I wish I’d gone to Snowfall last time—I would’ve met you sooner. Such a shame.”

“Couldn’t take my eyes off the music video. Saw your previous work too—you speak English really well. Ever thought about moving to Hollywood for good?”

The crowd and attention pouring in felt way more intense than during <Hometown>. Just exchanging greetings with everyone left my head absolutely spinning.

I could’ve used ten bodies and still not been enough.

But Roddy, true star that he was, handled greeting everyone in turn with complete ease.

I’d been watching him admiringly when the awards ceremony began.

* * *

Shortly after, the ceremony got underway.

“Congratulations to <Collapse> for winning the Special Award!”

The director held up the trophy toward the sky with an absolutely thrilled expression.

Reporters swarmed in front of the three of us, flashing their cameras.

Roddy stood there the entire time with an awkward expression, clearly not knowing what to do with himself.

“Roddy, smile!”

One reporter finally gave him some direction.

That’s when Roddy broke into a sheepish grin.

The director delivered his acceptance speech in front of everyone.

“I’m sure you all know this already, but my staff works harder on my sets than anywhere else. I want to dedicate this honor to our team members who never complained and always followed through quietly.”

The director looked at me with a bright smile and continued.

“And she’s the treasure of our music video. Sena. I have no idea how we would’ve shot this film without that actress. It’s not just that she acts well—she has an incredible understanding of the work itself and every single cut.”

Roddy immediately started clapping enthusiastically from the side.

Following his lead, everyone listening to the speech joined in with applause.

I tried my best to hide my embarrassment and smiled back at the director.

After the director finished his speech, Roddy hesitantly grabbed the mic.

“Um, honestly I’m only receiving an award like this thanks to the director and Sena.”

The moment Roddy opened his mouth, laughter rippled through the crowd.

“I feel the same way. Without Sena, I couldn’t have pulled off the other music videos either, and this one especially would’ve been impossible.”

Roddy scratched his head.

“Oh, and there’s one behind-the-scenes story—Sena actually suggested making a short film with this track, just like the director did. Isn’t that amazing? Sena’s just a genius!”

Did these two plan this together?

The embarrassment kept piling up until I could barely lift my head.

Finally the mic reached me.

I grabbed it and met the eyes of everyone looking at me.

Suddenly my throat closed up completely.

I’d definitely attended major awards ceremonies back in Korea before.

Even though this was a much smaller venue, the pressure of having people from so many different countries watching me hit all at once.

“You two seem determined to hype me up.”

Roddy and the director stood up from their seats and applauded.

Watching them made me laugh.

“Thanks to Roddy and the director, I’m getting to experience all kinds of things. And now I finally get to properly introduce myself to all of you. I’ll continue working hard to deliver good performances in many different places. I hope you’ll look forward to it.”

As I finished speaking, flashes exploded right on cue.

Another chapter passes just like that, I thought.

It felt like a small, sparkling piece of my life had been fitted perfectly into place.

* * *

That fresh feeling from the festival lasted only briefly.

A few days after returning to daily life, I met up at a cafe in Sangam-dong.

An unexpected person who’d reached out according to my return schedule was waiting for me.

“Director!”

NBS’s Director Cheon Insu slid his glasses down and extended his hand for a handshake.

“You’ve been well? Sorry for calling you out when you must be exhausted.”

“Not at all! What’s this about?”

I sat down across from the director after so long.

He laughed awkwardly and touched his nose.

“Nothing major. Just—wow, it feels awkward diving straight into business talk.”

“…?”

The director had sent a brief text asking to meet, then secretly called me to a nearby cafe instead of the NBS building.

I couldn’t hide the question mark on my face as I looked at him.

The director got straight to the point without further delay.

“You’ve been in talks about joining the HBC special project, right?”

I couldn’t hide my surprise at the question.

“Ah, well, word spreads around the industry, you know.”

“Ah, yes.”

I took a sip of coffee to wet my throat.

“I’ll probably do it.”

The moment I answered, the director’s expression hardened.

He didn’t even try to hide it.

Seeing that face made me even more confused.

I’d already been feeling a bit uneasy ever since hearing about the director from Park Hoon sunbaenim.

The director took a sip of his tea too.

“I’m not saying this because I’m from NBS.”

“……”

“I want to talk you out of that project.”

“What’s going on…?”

Having someone who wasn’t usually frivolous bring this up made my anxiety spike even higher.

“You heard about the director, right?”

“Yes….”

“More than one or two actors have suffered under that director. Did you hear about this too?”

“!”

I looked at the director in shock.

“That director works with HBC a lot. Actually, more accurately—now he only works with HBC. Other places won’t use him because actors are so sick of him.”

“Ah….”

This was information I hadn’t known.

“That director’s style is to dominate actors no matter what. If you don’t get in line under him, he humiliates you one way or another.”

“I didn’t know that part.”

I listened calmly.

“Several projects have fallen through because of that director. Casting fell apart. And one more thing.”

The director handed me a script he’d brought.

“…?”

“By coincidence, we’re also launching a special project this time. It’s a time-slip romantic comedy, and the company’s put a lot of effort into it.”

I looked at the names of the director and writer written on the script.

They were all too familiar.

People in the industry that actors would kill to work with.

“The script’s solid and fun. No concerns outside the work either.”

I nodded and set the script down on the table.

The director smiled awkwardly.

“I know this method is underhanded. But I’m not just telling you to do our project. Even if you do something else, it’d be better not to shoot with HBC.”

“Thank you for the advice….”

The director had been someone who’d looked out for me and taken special interest since way back.

‘I like people who work hard. That’s all.’

That’s what the director had told me when I’d asked why he was being so good to me.

After finishing the Flower Beyond Palace Walls audition and finally landing the role, we’d talked one-on-one—those were his words then.

The director was definitely taking a big risk right now to deliver an important message to me.

I placed my hand on top of the script he’d given me.

“I’ll take this to heart. Thank you. It couldn’t have been easy to tell me this.”

“Anyway, that’s it! I probably won’t need to secretly call you out like this again, so don’t worry. Even I was too nervous to keep meeting like this.”

The director laughed heartily.

I laughed awkwardly too and finally drained the rest of my coffee.

* * *

That evening.

Darkness fell outside the window in an instant.

With my mind in turmoil, I’d camped out at the cafe where I’d met the director for hours, reading the script.

“It’s definitely fun.”

It was clearly a concept that would require a huge budget, and the female lead’s character had this bubbly charm that was really appealing.

But…..

I sighed and shut the script.

“Now I want to try something other than romcoms.”

Having unintentionally filled my filmography with romantic comedies up to this point, I was thirsty for a different genre.

I was also anxious about being consumed only as a romcom actress.

“Ugh, what do I do.”

Choosing my next project had never given me this much of a headache before.

I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes for a moment.

That’s when my phone vibrated.

I pulled it out to find a call coming from an unknown number.

“…?”

What’s this ominous feeling?

After a moment’s hesitation, I pressed the call button as if possessed.

“Hello?”

-Is this Han Sena-ssi’s cell phone?

A rough middle-aged man’s voice.

“…Yes. Who is this?”

-This is Director So Jaehyeong. About the HBC special project.

“Ah, hello!”

I pulled the phone away from my ear briefly to check the time.

It was almost nine o’clock. Why now?

-Do you have a schedule right now?

“No, I don’t.”

-I’m having drinks with some actors. Want to come? It’s in Sangam-dong.

The bar the director mentioned happened to be nearby.

I fell into thought for a moment.

“Yes. I’m nearby. I’ll be right there.”

The call that had come out of nowhere ended just like that.

I grabbed the script and stood up from my seat.

Actually, this worked out well.

I’d been planning to see and verify things with my own eyes anyway.

* * *

Twenty minutes later.

At a small beer hall, a thoroughly drunk Director So Jaehyeong slammed his beer glass down on the table.

The other actors looked at me and the director with tense, frozen expressions.

The director looked at me and smiled.

“Five thousand per episode?”

“Pardon?”

“Sena-ssi, do you think you’re worth your asking price?”

The atmosphere in the beer hall instantly turned ice cold.