In This Life I Will Die as an Actress Not a Villainess Chapter 98

-I knew I had a knack for games.

A few days later, Aiden sent a message to the group chat along with a photo taken in front of his dining table.

I chuckled looking at the photo.

Then I sent a reply.

-You had no intention of giving it to your daughter and just threw yourself into the game like that?

-Did you want that table that badly, Aiden?

The director, who’d read the message right away, didn’t miss her chance to join in teasing Aiden.

Chloe, the last to read the message, also sent a reply.

-Enjoy the table, Dad ^^

Huh?

The profile picture next to Chloe’s message caught my eye.

When I clicked on the profile, a photo from the other day popped up—when Aiden, Chloe, and I had gone to visit the old palace together.

In the photo, Chloe was wearing a soft pink jeogori and smiling brightly.

Looking at that photo made me smile warmly.

Just then, small sighting stories about us had started popping up online.

-I saw Han Sena in Insadong!! She was with the actors from <Hometown>. They really seemed like family.

-But why is Aiden so handsome? The kid’s super cute too. She kept calling Sena ‘Mommy.’

-The three of them seem really close. Nice to see.

I’d uploaded a verification photo to the fan cafe separately.

A photo of the three of us, now truly like family, dressed in hanbok standing in front of the palace under the moonlight.

The outing had come about to fulfill my promise to show Chloe around Korea at least once.

But this meeting of the three of us held great meaning for me too.

Until now, I’d never gone out to hang out like this with actors after finishing work on other projects.

Yet this time, I’d even been the one to initiate it.

Running around holding Chloe’s hand, showing her around Korea here and there—how excited I’d been.

I looked at the photo once more with a warm smile, then got out of the van.

The place I’d arrived at was Minyeong unnie’s office.

Unnie had summoned me from early morning.

When I opened the door and went in, unnie was buried in piles of paperwork again.

Unnie looked up at me with dark circles under her eyes.

“You’re here. Time to row, Han Sena.”

As I approached, unnie slid several stacks of papers toward me.

Requests had come in from all kinds of programs—radio guest spots, quiz shows, variety shows.

There’s no way she wants me to do all of these, right?

“Unnie…?”

As I accepted the papers with an uneasy look, unnie let out a small laugh.

“Do only what you want. I think it might not be bad to try one regular variety show this time. The timing’s good.”

“A regular variety show?”

It was something I’d never even considered.

I’d never done one before.

“Yeah, you’re past the point where appearing on variety shows will pigeonhole your image.”

I sat down on the sofa and started seriously flipping through the papers.

“Did unnie see anything that looked good?”

Having never tried variety shows and being completely hopeless at them, I planned to rely on Minyeong unnie’s judgment.

“Uninhabited Island looked pretty good.”

“Uninhabited Island…?”

What kind of title is that?

A variety show called Uninhabited Island?

“The subtitle’s ‘We Came to Live.'”

Minyeong unnie explained the program.

“It’s on NBS, and the PD who made ‘From Island to Field’ is planning a new show.”

If it’s ‘From Island to Field,’ that’s Korea’s most famous reality variety program.

The person who made that show was PD Ha Wonwoo, who at this point in time had only this one show under his belt, but would go on to dominate Korean variety shows.

“The show’s openly trying to gather the <Desert Island> family. Think it over.”

After hearing unnie’s words, I fell into thought.

Not bad?

They’re calling the Desert Island cast to an actual desert island and having them do a reality variety show.

If I had to categorize it, it’s like half reality variety and half observational entertainment.

It was still in a transitional form, but if it went well, it could maximize the strengths of both and become a huge hit.

If it didn’t work, the weaknesses would compound and it’d flop.

But most importantly, it would depend on the cast members’ chemistry.

“Hmm.”

If I’m going to spend time filming variety anyway, it’d be more comfortable for me to do it with people I know.

And watching these personalities crash into each other seemed pretty entertaining even to me.

Plus, the PD is Ha Wonwoo.

Even if it doesn’t do well, it should at least be moderately successful.

I finished my brief thoughts and grinned.

“Then I’ll try this one!”

At that, Minyeong unnie’s eyes widened slightly, as if surprised.

“Don’t you need to think about it more?”

I nodded brightly with a smile.

Without being able to see even one step ahead…

* * *

“Wow! The ocean!”

“It’s so beautiful, oh my gosh. Look at how blue the sky is.”

A month later, the place we’d all flown to without thinking was an island in the middle of the Pacific.

An exotic location you’d only see in unique films.

Seagull cries echoed above our heads.

Enjoying the beautiful natural scenery with the Desert Island team members I was seeing after so long was short-lived.

“Build a house? Us? You want us to?”

The full-blown variety show began.

PD Ha Wonjun nodded with an ominous smile.

“That cabin…”

As I reached out to point at the cabin, the PD answered mercilessly.

“That’s the staff quarters.”

Everyone’s faces went pale.

Being told to build a house in this wilderness.

The cabin built separately during location scouting was exclusively for staff.

Kkotbyeol opened her mouth wide and grabbed her forehead.

Then Heechan, who’d been bickering with Kkotbyeol nonstop even in front of cameras, grinned and crossed his arms.

“Don’t worry! I’ll take care of everything.”

With Heechan leading, the so-called ‘outdoor team’ members formed.

Han Hyeonsu, Kwon Jaehyung, Kim Eunseo, and Kkotbyeol.

After they left to gather materials for building the house, just a few minutes later.

“Does anyone know how to start a fire…?”

“Did it rain yesterday? Everything’s soaked.”

“Ahhh! Snake! Snake!!”

“Where!! Get away!!”

Screams erupted from all over immediately.

Our team on the beach—me, Seon Yuseok, Jung Yuri, Jang Heeyeong sunbaenim, and Won Hyerim sunbaenim—wasn’t much different.

Our first mission was to get water by distilling seawater.

But the leaves we’d placed kept collapsing under the weight.

“Is this even safe to drink…?”

Jang Heeyeong sunbaenim made an uneasy face.

“Uh…”

No one could answer that question.

And this was just an everyday occurrence.

“They’re all escaping! You idiot!”

Seon Yuseok and Jang Heeyeong sunbaenim, who’d gone out to catch fish, moved around with completely sloppy form.

“How many did you catch?”

Won Hyerim sunbaenim, who’d been starting a fire in the distance, called out.

Then Jang Heeyeong sunbaenim answered while forcing down his flustered expression.

“Well, it’s not something to rush.”

“Oh sure, says you.”

A few minutes later after saying that.

Sunbaenim had been standing there holding the net the whole time, but still no results.

To make matters worse, the warm island was bug heaven.

I got up from my spot and looked around the island, which was truly chaotic.

My head was spinning.

Why did I agree to do this?

I stood there with a blank expression while my face was captured on camera.

Can we make it through with these people?

For three nights and four days…?

I quickly rolled up my sleeves.

If we keep going like this, we’re all going to starve.

I started gathering stones to build a makeshift stove.

My assistant was Yuseok.

I had Yuseok collect kindling and firewood, then trimmed tree branches to make skewers.

And whenever I had time, I went to the mudflats on the opposite side from the fishing team and picked up a few crabs.

Maybe worried my audio would disappear if I just worked silently, Yuseok kept causing trouble the whole time.

I’ve never seen anyone this considerate…

I desperately held back the urge to grab a skewer and whack him on the back.

“Hey, go stand over there.”

When I said this with a forced smile, Seon Yuseok completely missed the mood and grinned back.

“Noona, this is fun, right?”

“Fun?!!”

In the end, a loud shout burst out of my mouth first.

Just then, the outdoor team returned to base with perfect timing.

Kwon Jaehyung sunbaenim was already bickering with Kim Eunseo.

“Kim Eunseo out! Kim Eunseo eliminated!”

“Sunbaenim, you leave, please!”

Hyeonsu-ssi beside them kept giggling watching the two, then casually said,

“Both of you just go home. Swim back.”

Everyone who heard Hyeonsu-ssi’s words burst out laughing.

The food team trudging back had also decided which member to eliminate.

“Jang Heeyeong sunbaenim’s a complete liability!”

In the end, they’d failed at fishing, but sunbaenim kept blaming the currents until the end.

“You think catching fish is easy? Kids these days have no patience.”

On my side, I quickly chose to cook rice and pushed Seon Yuseok far away.

Preparing dinner side by side with Kim Eunseo like that.

Kim Eunseo displayed her household skills without any filter.

“Oh my, you were supposed to remove the scales but you took off all the flesh. Is this a butcher shop?”

After hearing my words, Kim Eunseo slammed down the knife.

“Ugh, then you do it!”

I let out a deep sigh and took the fish from her.

Then I started quickly scaling it.

Won Hyerim sunbaenim, who’d come over, widened her eyes.

“Oh my, how gross! Where did you learn to do this?”

Won Hyerim sunbaenim was quite the surprise too.

Sunbaenim’s effort and passion, which she’d lived breathlessly pursuing her whole life, was limited to acting.

“…”

Hold it in, Han Sena.

At least Yuri-ssi calmly observed me, then followed along pretty well and did her fair share.

PD Ha Wonwoo, who’d come over to watch the food team, scratched the back of his head.

“This is unexpected? The young folks are doing better than expected.”

The PD looked at the sunbaenims teasingly.

The staff probably imagined Jang Heeyeong or Won Hyerim nagging and taking care of the ragtag young people.

Hyeonsu-ssi, who’d been quietly peeling bark, looked at me and asked,

“I thought you only knew work. You’ve got good life skills, Sena-ssi.”

Hearing those words, I fell into thought for a brief moment.

These life skills came from living alone after losing my parents early.

I quickly erased the bitter expression that momentarily surfaced.

Then I called out to the innocent Yuseok.

“Yuseok! Hurry and get some leaves! We need to steam the fish!!”

At that, Yuseok headed toward the forest in his funny, frantic way.

Right, at least he’s good at running errands.

Meanwhile, Kim Eunseo had grabbed a crab, saying she’d grill it, and was causing another accident.

“Hey, the shell needs to face down! All the innards are going to spill out!”

“Are you my mother-in-law?!”