In This Life I Will Die as an Actress Not a Villainess Chapter 18

A café tucked away in an alley of Sangam-dong.

“Thank you so much for meeting me on such short notice.”

Management Director Kwon Minyeong greeted me warmly, wrapping both hands around her cup of hot americano.

As I looked at the management director seated across from me, my thoughts were…

Smaller than I expected.

From the moment we sat down face-to-face, I’d been a bit surprised by her overall delicate build and gentle features.

Even including my previous life, this was the first time I’d seen the famous Kwon Minyeong in person like this.

Then again, you don’t have to look like a tiger to establish a company or save a nation.

Still, there was something about her—an unwavering integrity and resolute determination radiating from that petite frame, manifested in her crisp, no-nonsense voice. It made it impossible to dismiss anything she said lightly.

The management director took a sip of coffee before speaking.

“Let me get straight to the point, Sena-ssi.”

I nodded at those words.

I liked that.

I appreciated that she’d already skipped past the empty flattery and sweet talk meant to win me over.

“Actually, I was a bit surprised when you agreed to meet today. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t have come.”

A laugh slipped out at her blunt honesty.

“Your career and reputation are too impressive to just brush off, Director.”

The management director smiled at my response.

“The reputation for being a hothead, you mean?”

I almost couldn’t hold back my laughter at that.

I waved my hands to deny it, but the management director was already completely unfazed, as if she knew exactly what people said.

“There’s a reason I earned the nickname ‘civilian with more scandals than the actors.'”

After finishing that sentence, the management director let out a brief sigh mixed with laughter.

Haha, so that’s the nickname she’s known by…

The director reopened the conversation with renewed calm.

“I fell in love with your acting at first sight, Sena-ssi, and immediately wanted to recruit you to our company. That time you coached Yuseok, and Flat Shoes goes without saying.”

“The coaching session with Yuseok was really… nothing special though.”

The director shook her head slightly with a smile at my words.

“I’m worried you might find this unpleasant to hear, but honestly, I was so curious about your teaching that I reviewed the practice room recordings where you worked with Yuseok.”

For a moment, a hollow laugh escaped at the director’s rather obsessive nature.

Not in a bad way, though.

Someone who digs this deep when something catches their interest, pursuing it to the very end—that was quite intriguing.

“If I may be so bold, Sena-ssi, you’re truly a talented person. That’s why I wanted to recruit you then, still do now, and probably always will. But… as you know.”

The director paused briefly and flashed a smile.

I took a sip of tea to wet my lips.

“It’s become common knowledge that I’m leaving the company. I haven’t settled on my next move yet.”

A person this honest.

But I already knew that, and it wasn’t particularly important anyway.

Something far more crucial had just occurred to me.

I spoke up before the director could continue.

“Yes, um, this might seem random, but I’m curious about something. How exactly did you see my acting? I want to know specifically.”

“Pardon?”

“What made it impressive enough to catch your eye? What specifically stood out about my performance?”

It was a question that might come across as somewhat confrontational.

The management director’s large round eyes curved into crescents as she smiled at my question.

“Testing my eye for talent, I see. Good opportunity. I can show what I’m worth.”

This person… I’m liking her more and more.

My seated body naturally leaned forward.

“Let me speak carefully. The key to your success in Flat Shoes, Sena-ssi, isn’t simply that you acted well.”

The director began speaking calmly.

“My standard for great actors is this: Acting well is basic. But adding just ‘one thing’ more of your own to the character in the script—that’s what separates an A from an A+.”

“Ah.”

“The Yoo Ji-an you portrayed has the kind of vitality that makes it feel like you met that character somewhere and brought her back. Above all, what I noticed most was that you rebuilt Yoo Ji-an to fit your own body.”

“Yes?”

I reflexively responded to this evaluation I’d never heard before.

“I saw it too—the Flat Shoes script. I studied it thoroughly hoping to get some of our agency’s actors involved, but we didn’t have anyone suitable.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond to this point, so I smiled awkwardly.

But the management director didn’t smile.

“I also heard Writer Lee Si-young’s interview. About the initial opposition. I believe the reason Yoo Ji-an was an incomplete character lay in her universality.”

“Universality…”

“Yes, universality. When people first encountered her, Yoo Ji-an was just vicious and ruthless. But if you look carefully at the script, there are specific sections where Yoo Ji-an’s grief and sorrow are expressed, containing the reasons why she had to become that way. However, all those emotions got buried under her massive misdeeds.”

This person… actually knows how to read scripts…

I was caught off guard that she could explain it in such detail.

At the same time, my fondness for the management director began snowballing.

“But your Yoo Ji-an, Sena-ssi, is sad. She knows how to be lively in a way that fits her age, knows how to break down, knows how to want something. And in a way that doesn’t fit her age, life weighs heavy on her, burdens her, wrongs her. You maximized and expressed the emotions hidden behind Yoo Ji-an’s misdeeds.”

Having finished speaking to that point, the management director took a sip of her cooling tea.

“That’s how you made Yoo Ji-an not obvious. Not a typical villainess, but a unique villainess, a sad villainess, a relatable villainess. Like that. By mixing in even one more sad expression, one more dazed gesture in minor scenes. The core of all this is that it wasn’t Han Sena becoming Yoo Ji-an, but Yoo Ji-an becoming Han Sena.”

The management director gently met my eyes.

“That’s why I found it a bit mysterious. Where and how did you draw out those emotions? When did someone as young as Han Sena experience Yoo Ji-an’s sorrow? That question remained with me.”

Hearing those words, I cleared my throat unnecessarily to hide my bewilderment.

To be this perceptive…

It was almost frightening.

She’s saying this while being young herself.

And though I’m someone living life a second time, how does this person have such keen insight…?

If anything, I was the one who couldn’t understand.

“You’re twenty-three, right, Sena-ssi?”

“Ah, yes.”

The management director’s words, which I thought had ended, continued again.

“How did you know about Yuseok’s inferiority complex, Sena-ssi?”

The moment I heard those words, my breath caught.

I remembered how I’d detonated that kid’s emotions after knowing Seon Yuseok’s future in advance.

My mind went blank.

The director spoke again.

“Sena-ssi.”

Each word from the director reached my ears as if in slow motion.

The management director grinned.

“You’re a psychic, aren’t you?”

Ha, the moment I heard that, the breath I’d been holding burst out.

I tried to hide my bewilderment and forced a smile.

Clearly she’d watched that recorder booth footage and found something strange, now tossing this out playfully like a joke.

“Your acting goes without saying, Sena-ssi, but your teaching too… I don’t know if this will offend you. To me, you’re less impressive than… well, strange.”

I was completely dumbfounded.

“In a good way, of course.”

After finishing that sentence, the management director took another sip of the completely cooled tea.

Had I ever been this thrown off by someone since living twice?

Definitely a first.

“But I can’t hand you a contract in this situation. The reason I asked to meet today…”

“Yes.”

I leaned forward as I answered.

My heart grew anxious that the director might rescind the offer.

“For now, I’ll cheer you on as one fan. Later, when I’ve established myself somewhere, I wanted to ask if it would be all right to contact you again. That’s why I reached out.”

I took a sip of tea and ran my hand through my hair.

I delayed my answer for a moment.

Hmm…

The management director’s words were certainly a wise decision from an investment perspective.

But I had no intention of doing that.

Especially not now.

I can’t let this person slip away.

“Director. Would you consider starting your own company?”

I tossed out the question playfully, as if I knew nothing.

At my words, this time it was the director who fell silent for a moment.

“Sounds absurd, doesn’t it? Even I think it’s funny.”

I took a sip of tea.

“Of course, having just met you, I don’t know you well, but I think you’re plenty capable, Director. Starting a company will naturally come with considerable hardship, but I see you as someone who can push through all that.”

As I chattered away, the management director clasped both hands together with a flustered expression.

“That’s… an answer I didn’t expect.”

The director laughed awkwardly.

“More than anything, I’ve come to like you, Director!”

The director smiled at my cheerfully upbeat tone.

Though the expression underneath held a trace of tension.

After a moment, the management director answered.

“It’s not a direction I haven’t considered. But it’s no small matter, so I need some time to think.”

I nodded at those words.

Though I was reluctant to part ways like this, I decided to accept this one step back for the sake of the future.

She really was too valuable a person to let slip away.

As expected, there’s a reason she’s an unprecedented figure in the agency industry.

“Then, shall we meet again next time?”

The management director spoke while extending her hand toward me.

I grasped that hand and shook it briefly.

“Definitely.”

* * *

On my way to a magazine interview.

Once again, Dad was the driver.

No matter how many taxis I took, I couldn’t match up to this.

Today Mom was riding in the passenger seat too.

“So, the agency thing will take a bit longer?”

Mom asked worriedly.

“Yeah.”

“Do you have someone in mind? Isn’t this taking too long…”

Dad answered instead of me at Mom’s words.

“Our daughter has it all figured out. What, if it comes to it, we can just go meet the agency president together later.”

Please stop.

“I can handle it myself. Don’t worry.”

“How can we not worry.”

At this rate, this would never end.

Soon the car pulled up in front of a building.

“Have a good time, sweetheart!”

“I’ll have dinner ready. Be careful around people. Be careful around men too! Be careful of everything!!”

Yeah yeah, I know, I know. After answering several times, I finally managed to close the car door.

As I stood at the crosswalk waiting for the signal to change…

“Hey? Isn’t that Han Sena…?”

Murmuring voices reached me from nearby.

I bowed my head slightly to everyone who made eye contact, greeting them.

Just then, two women who’d been waiting at the signal approached hesitantly.

“Um, excuse me.”

“Hello.”

When I smiled brightly at them, the woman on the left bounced excitedly.

“Wow, I’m a huge Yoo Ji-an fan. I cry every time I watch Flat Shoes. Unnie, could you please take just one picture with us?”

A natural smile emerged at those words.

“Thank you. Of course I should take a picture with you!”

“Oh my god, unnie has such a great personality.”

As I was taking pictures with them, the crowd gradually swelled like a snowball.

“Yoo Ji-an! I’m a huge fan!!”

“Wow, she’s amazing in person. Noona, you’re so pretty.”

“Could I please have your autograph?”

I responded to each person, and it felt wonderful.

It really hit me that there were people who genuinely liked me and supported Yoo Ji-an.

In my previous life, when I walked down the street, people would recognize me as ‘Yoo Ji-an,’ but they’d mostly just watch from a distance—rarely approaching.

“Thank you so much.”

The pleased smile wouldn’t leave my face.

Inside the studio.

While shooting photos for the magazine pictorial, the photographer’s exclamations filled the studio.

To an almost embarrassing degree.

“Sena-ssi, you’re really a newcomer? Your poses, expressions—nothing’s lacking.”

Haha… I’m not actually a newcomer.

I swallowed those words internally and smiled.

“The photographer is capturing all the right angles, so it’s easy to follow along.”

“Wow, humble too. Just turn your chin slightly to the side. That’s it. Ah, beautiful.”

With the photographer’s burning enthusiasm, the shoot ran thirty minutes over schedule.

I moistened my throat with the beverage a staff member brought over and stood in front of the monitor.

“Photographer Jung, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you this fired up. Looks like Sena-ssi caught your eye.”

Hearing the staff member’s comment, I bowed my head.

The photos from the shoot appeared on the monitor.

People viewing the photos let out continuous exclamations of admiration.

Among them, the photographer stopped at one particular photo while scrolling through.

“This is it. We’ll use this for this month’s cover.”

It was a photo of me running my hand through my hair with a bright, delighted smile.

It was the face I’d made earlier when I burst out laughing at the photographer’s string of compliments and jokes.

With natural contrast adjustment and a touch of saturation, the photo overflowed with vitality.

“So natural. Beautiful.”

The staff members each added their comments.

“When Sena-ssi has no expression she’s incredibly chic, but when she smiles she’s so radiant.”

“Even the B-cuts aren’t really B-cuts, are they? Should we increase the number of photos for this issue? They’re too good to waste.”

The photographer nodded.

“Yeah, release some of the other photos online too. Every guy out there is going to make these their desktop wallpaper.”

In that cheerful atmosphere, another staff member approached me.

“Sena-ssi, ready?”

When I nodded, the writer led me to a spacious table beside the studio and poured me coffee.

“Please, have a seat. So… shall we begin?”