In This Life I Will Die as an Actress Not a Villainess Chapter 57

Cheers erupted among the staff.

“It’s finally over!!”

“Whoa, freedom from beard attachment!”

“Let’s really go hard tonight!”

Even the director, taking off his headset, wore a rare bright expression.

While the staff packed up equipment, the makeup staff approached.

“Sena-ssi’s going all the way tonight too, right?”

Ugh, this is awkward.

I made an apologetic face at the excited staff member.

“I really, really want to, you know.”

“Huh? What’s with this reaction?”

The staff’s gazes all converged on me at once.

“I’ll definitely stay through the first round, but…”

“What, did our Sena-ssi get too popular and busy now?”

The lighting director teased.

“No… I have to practice dancing… thanks to you all.”

Even as I said it, reality hit me hard.

The staff each burst out laughing.

“Right, right. This deserves early dismissal approval!”

Even hearing that didn’t make me happy.

To think I’d have to do a girl group dance no matter what.

When was the last time I even danced?

Way back when, dragged to company dinners and hit up nightclubs once or twice…?

How old was I even then?

The director, who’d overheard, also approached with the brightest smile in the world.

“Well then. Let’s make the wrap party spectacular instead. It’s more comfortable for everyone to party hard when there’s no dubbing work anyway.”

That’s when Lee Seokhyun, laughing like it was someone else’s problem, caught my eye.

Oh really.

I grabbed Lee Seokhyun and pulled him toward me.

“Hey, can’t I skip out? I dance well, so I don’t need to practice.”

“What! You think you’re getting out of this? It’s a duet, so we need to practice together.”

At that, Lee Seokhyun’s face immediately deflated.

* * *

And so, inevitably—the practice room.

“Arms straight up! Fingertips! More tension in the fingertips! Sena-ssi, footwork!”

Aaagh.

“Relax your body! Last point, sharp, sharp, sharp. Finish!”

Lee Seokhyun was next to me, grinning away and following along perfectly.

Ugh, infuriating.

The moment the song ended, I collapsed onto the floor.

“Sena-ssi’s a real model student, huh. Never even went clubbing with friends?”

Lee Seokhyun smirked.

I glared at him.

“Must be nice being young.”

“Hm?”

Oops.

“What kind of grandma line is that?”

I’d been gasping from the intense choreography and momentarily forgot reality.

Should’ve just kept my mouth shut and caught my breath.

I turned my head away and massaged my legs.

“Grandma, do your legs hurt?”

“Stop it.”

“Grandma, want some water?”

“Ugh, seriously!”

At my outburst, Lee Seokhyun’s eyes went round with mock surprise, then he muttered to himself.

“Acting like a sunbae on set, turns out she really is a grandma.”

“…I acted like a sunbae? Was I annoying?”

At my question, Lee Seokhyun smiled slyly.

“Well, sometimes you do seem like a veteran sunbae. Not sometimes—frequently. Not annoying though.”

Seeing my clueless expression, Lee Seokhyun continued.

“You know. How you treat the staff, the ease and acting details you show in front of the camera. The emotional depth especially.”

I nodded vaguely and kept massaging my legs.

At my lukewarm response, Lee Seokhyun kept needling me.

“What, seriously? You didn’t lie about your age on your profile, did you?”

“If I said I lied about my age. Would you even call me noona?”

“Of course. I’m good at that stuff, noona.”

“Ew, gross!”

“Here, throw up right here, noona.”

Lee Seokhyun cupped his hands and held them out.

“Alright, break’s over! Let’s start again.”

At the coach’s words, I quickly pushed Lee Seokhyun’s hands away.

The moment I stood up, the music started playing again.

* * *

A few days later, Yeouido Plaza.

Two large outdoor speakers were being installed on the stage.

“Camera setup complete! Let’s check the timing.”

One staff member shouted at the top of their lungs.

At that, people who’d been hiding in the shade from the now-scorching sun began gathering one by one.

As a semicircle crowd formed around the stage, my mouth went dry.

Below the stage, people chatted in small clusters.

“What, busking? What’s with the Joseon cosplay?”

“Wait, no way. Isn’t this that thing? The Palace Flower ratings promise?”

“Jackpot, we hit the jackpot. Quick, get your phone out.”

I stood next to Lee Seokhyun at the marked spot on the floor, pretending to be unbothered.

At the staff’s signal, the murmuring crowd fell quiet.

A staff member held up three fingers.

They folded down one by one, moving in slow motion.

After an agonizing three seconds, the speakers began vibrating.

Those vibrations traveled through the stage and into my feet.

With the intro to last year’s biggest hit ‘Timeless’—a sexy Latin-style couple dance track by debuting solo idols, male and female.

Lee Seokhyun and I faced each other and leaned in.

Was Lee Seokhyun always this solid?

On this vast stage, he was the only person I could rely on.

Should I say—of all people, it had to be Lee Seokhyun…

When Lee Seokhyun skillfully wrapped his arm around my waist, my body moved with his lead.

I kept repeating affirmations in my head.

‘I’m sexy… I am sexy… He’s my lover right now.’

I danced with a forced relaxed smile plastered on my face.

Cheers erupted from the crowd below.

“Wow, they look so good together!”

“Kyaaah, unnie! Amazing!”

I was on the verge of tears from how proud I was of my body actually following what we’d practiced.

After grabbing Lee Seokhyun’s shoulder and doing a wave, I moved into the chorus’s most difficult high-level moves.

That’s when my feet tangled for a split second.

‘Oh no.’

Out of nowhere, Lee Seokhyun’s hand casually supported my back.

With his help, I barely completed two turns when—with the perky narration “Welcome! It’s your first time with Berry Chu, right?”—the music changed.

It was a comedy concept girl group song with goofy, silly choreography as the point.

A huge wave of laughter erupted from the crowd.

Hearing that unexpectedly made all the tension drain away.

Whatever, who cares.

The moves are funny from here anyway, so being a bit shameless should be fine, right?

Whether I’d relaxed or just given up entirely.

My limbs, freed from control, stretched out freely.

“She’s insane, this is so funny!”

“She’s killing it!”

I glanced to the side—Lee Seokhyun was shaking his body like he was possessed.

Seeing him made me burst out laughing.

I squeezed my eyes shut and threw myself into the music, dancing my heart out.

The music played on, and with the final beat, I cautiously opened my eyes.

And what did I see?

Lee Seokhyun in the corner with both hands raised, shaking his head, and people on the verge of suffocating from laughter.

Oh my god.

My vision went white.

“What! I was the only one dancing!”

When I shouted in frustration, Lee Seokhyun elegantly bowed to the audience.

“Now, everyone please enjoy the ice cream our Dance God Sena-ssi prepared!”

People swarmed toward the truck to get ice cream.

* * *

“Dance God! Dance God! Dance God!”

“Aaaagh!”

I woke up screaming in bed.

“Huff, huff.”

Bzzzz—

My phone vibration briefly left my head blank.

I was definitely just being tormented by drinking toasts a second ago.

Looking around my familiar room finally brought me back to reality.

This is definitely trauma.

My new trauma.

‘Ooh, our Dance God has arrived.’

‘Sena-ssi, didn’t know you had center ambitions.’

Last night, the moment I arrived at the wrap party, everyone ganged up to tease me before making me shout the toast three times.

“Dance! God! Han! Sae! na!”

I’d tried to get Lee Seokhyun—the root cause—drunk enough to crawl on all fours.

But he just kept grinning and downing drinks without showing the slightest sign of being tipsy.

In the end, only I got drunk and was kidnapped by Writer Nam Jihye and Won Hyerim sunbaenim, forced to drink even more.

And after drinking until my nose was crooked…

‘Because I truly love you, Writer and sunbaenim, I’ll show you! Music, cue.’

I’d performed an enthusiastic talent show in front of them holding their phones all through dawn.

Between the scattered gaps in my memory, sensations of dancing loosely and the faces of the writer and sunbaenim laughing passed by.

“I’m crazy. Han Sena loves attention, loves it…”

I buried my face in the pillow and screamed.

They say nothing comes easy.

The title of 30% ratings lead actor came with shameful dark history attached.

I let out a deep sigh and picked up my phone.

Still, 30% ratings…

“Are a miracle in my life.”

The final episode hit 30.2% viewership, and the special episode that aired afterward hit 24.4%, which was quite impressive too.

The moment the short film dropped, real-time search terms filled with ‘Han Sena short film,’ ‘Palace Flower short film,’ and more.

‘Still feels so unreal it’s fascinating.’

The process of fighting for casting, my dancing, and my feelings after finishing the project—everything felt like I was dreaming.

Especially how I could feel people growing increasingly curious.

About who actress Han Sena is.

That’s when my phone, which had stopped, vibrated again.

After checking the message, I bolted upright.

“They want me to do what??”

* * *

Bareum Entertainment office.

“Unnie!”

When I burst through the door, I saw Minyeong unnie and Teacher Yoon Youngjae sitting across from each other.

What’s going on here?

“A variety show? Suddenly?”

Unnie set down her teacup calmly, like she’d expected me.

“The NBS variety director personally called. Said they absolutely need you on.”

“Huh…?”

Teacher looked at my face and chuckled.

“I find it funny when she gets all spacey like that.”

“Right?”

Unnie laughed along with Teacher before answering again.

“If it were a solo variety appearance, I don’t know, but they said it’s a Palace Flower special. Lee Seokhyun and Won Hyerim are all going on too. Then we should go too.”

Ah…

So that’s how it happened.

My energy drained as I collapsed onto the seat next to unnie.

I’d rushed over here so fast the hangover was crashing back in.

“Ugh, she reeks of alcohol.”

“But why did the director specifically emphasize it to me? I’d go on anyway without that.”

At my question, unnie shrugged.

“You’ve never been on variety shows, so they probably want to promote it as your first appearance.”

I nodded at that.

That’s when Teacher suddenly spoke up.

“I’m not watching it.”

“What?”

At Teacher’s words, unnie giggled.

“It’s a real variety show. No detailed script, just know it’s basically a chase game?”

What now…?

* * *

Two weeks later.

The weather had gone beyond warm to quite hot.

On a beautiful day, the Palace Flower members gathered one by one at the studio.

The filming schedule was set earlier than expected.

It was the variety PD’s strategy to quickly proceed with the Palace Flower special before interest cooled.

The PD announced they’d air the pre-filmed content after this special.

“Ugh, I’m getting old now—my joints are creaking.”

Won Hyerim sunbaenim muttered while looking in the mirror.

“Haha, sunbaenim. You’re still in your prime, what are you saying…”

That’s when Teacher Yoon Youngjae appeared in the distance wearing casual training clothes.

Seeing that, Won Hyerim sunbaenim handed the mirror to her manager.

“Right. Teacher Yoon Youngjae’s running too, so I was being dramatic.”

I chuckled at sunbaenim’s words.

A few minutes later, with MC Shin Doyoung’s hearty voice, filming officially began.

“The weekly variety survival game! This is Asura. Now, the long-awaited Palace Flower special! Welcome, everyone.”

The five regulars—MC included, Bang Chaehyuk, Mason, Lee Yul, and Chae Jui—applauded to greet us.

Dozens of cameras surrounded the ten or so of us like a wall.

Even though it was familiar territory in front of cameras, I felt slightly pressured.

Is this how variety show nerves develop…?

The staff and camera assigned to follow me around all day were already designated.

MC Shin Doyoung suddenly seemed impressive.

They say—flying comedians above running actors.

“This week’s survival game is! ‘Find the Gold Bar’ chase edition.”

The moment Shin Doyoung finished, the regulars made exaggerated frowns while hamming it up.

“Wow, this is the hardest one. This week.”

“From what I see, the PD should be the first to roll. Everyone out, yeah?”

At comedian Bang Chaehyuk’s quip, the studio already turned into a sea of laughter.

I felt intimidated.

I’ll have to be funny at least once too, but how…?