I stared at the sub-quest window.
‘Hah, make her not seem hateful…?’
“…Can you do it?”
“Haejin-ah.”
“Huh? Why can’t you?”
I pressed my temples hard while looking at Yeom Haejin. Not “Can you do it?” but—
“You should ask, ‘You can do it, right?’”
“…Alright, you can do it, right?”
I didn’t feel like I couldn’t do it. After all, if I act well, that’s enough. There’s that saying, isn’t there?
‘Well-crafted acting creates plausibility.’
I shrugged with confidence.
“Who do you think I am?”
“You’re overflowing with confidence…”
Yeom Haejin looked at me with unease. A director not trusting their actor.
“Director, don’t worry.”
“…You always talk so well. How can I not worry? We’ve been through so much together. I don’t want you to get criticized.”
Was she worried for me? That’s kind of touching.
“Then trust me even more.”
I put my arm around Yeom Haejin’s shoulder and gave her a gentle hug. With acting,
‘I can do anything.’
“Alright.”
She looked up at me, eyes wide.
“I’ll trust you.”
“Yes. Thank you, Director.”
“Im Bada.”
At that moment, Ryubyul, waiting ahead, waved at me.
“Let’s hurry up.”
“Okay.”
“Looking forward to it?”
“With all my heart.”
Expectation…
‘That’s what I was feeling.’
Acting with Ryubyul after so long. I had no choice but to give it my all. With my acting stat at ‘S+’ thanks to regression, I wasn’t going to lose to Ryubyul.
“Bada-ya, let’s do well.”
“Yes, Director.”
It seemed Yeom Haejin was also worried about me getting criticized.
I put the script in my bunny bag and handed it to Manager Min Seo-eun. Then I let out a big exhale to shake off my nervous heart.
Once more.
“Phew!”
Twice more!
“Phew, phew!”
Breathing heavily, I moved to the spot the assistant director indicated and waited for Yeom Haejin’s words.
“Bada-ya.”
“Yes, Director.”
“We’ll shoot it your way first, then refine the details. This scene focuses more on Yeonwoo than Sohyun.”
“Got it.”
Shall I do it my way to my heart’s content?
“We’ll shoot from here to the garden scene!”
The chaotic set atmosphere quieted rapidly. In the sinking silence, I slowly opened my eyes and gazed at Ryubyul standing in front of me.
“Okay.”
“Why?”
“Do well.”
How funny.
“You do well.”
Ryubyul snorted at my words. It’s been a really long time—acting with Ryubyul.
“Ready!”
Feeling an indescribable emotion building, I steadied my breathing.
“Action!”
I closed my eyes, then opened them, grabbing the green robe. As clumsily as possible, letting my startled heart show,
‘I’m Yeonwoo.’
★★★
Mother said the Crown Princess selection would proceed quickly. So, to find out Prince Iyoung’s true intentions, I came to ask if I should be the Crown Princess.
The moment I saw Sohyun in the palace, a small spark of hope went out.
My eyes, looking at Sohyun, trembled uncontrollably as I poured out my complicated feelings. But I approached Kim Sohyun first and spoke.
“Sohyun-ah.”
“Uh… um.”
Seeing her eyes, not recognizing me, I realized. She really lost her memory. The rumors weren’t lies. Then, the story about her barely opening her eyes when dirt covered her body…
“You said you lost your memory? It’s true.”
“Uh… yeah. I remember half, but the other half is blurry.”
“I see. You don’t even remember my name?”
“Yeah…”
I wanted to ask if she was okay, how she’d been, but the Sohyun in front of me didn’t seem like the one I knew. The girl who used to run to me smiling.
“I’m sorry.”
I said I was sorry…
“Why are you here? Why is a girl with incomplete memories alone?”
“Oh, His Highness the Crown Prince asked to meet about something related to my death.”
Not about the Crown Princess selection, but investigating Sohyun’s death? I hurriedly showed my guilt.
“…I’m sorry. I should’ve come to you when I woke up…”
I flipped my robe back over my shoulder. My obscured vision cleared, and I could see her fully. She was the same friend as before.
Her face, her body.
Why did it feel so familiar? Because she lost her memory? I don’t know.
“Yeonwoo-ya, are you okay…?”
Her warm voice reached my ears, and my chin lifted instinctively. You were always like this, comforting me kindly. I gave a slightly sad smile, meeting her eyes directly.
That’s when it happened.
Thud.
Tears welled up in my eyes. As I swayed like I might collapse, Sohyun urgently called out,
“Yeonwoo-ya!”
Before I knew it, I was tightly gripping her hand.
“…Yeonwoo-ya?”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”
Just holding her hand made me feel guilty, like I’d committed a crime. I tried to confess my guilt with words, but she stopped me.
“Yeonwoo-ya!”
“…Huh?”
“Are you okay?”
I blinked at the sunlight streaming behind her.
“Follow me.”
She grabbed my wrist and pulled me somewhere. I stared endlessly at Sohyun’s back as she led me to an empty garden.
“Here!”
“Sit.”
She brushed dirt off a stone and made me sit.
“Sit here, and you’ll feel better.”
“…”
“When you’re under intense sunlight, your head gets weird. You’re okay now, right?”
More intense than the sunlight was her smile. No, I was mistaken. You were you.
The Kim Sohyun I knew.
Even if your personality or actions changed, you were my friend who loved me.
“…”
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Is your head hurting? Huh? Maybe it’s because the hanbok is heavy.”
“Huh?”
“This era is tough. I wish clothes were lighter later on.”
Her conversation was strange. Suspicious words slipped in here and there.
“But I kind of get it.”
What?
“Why I became friends with you. You, you know.”
Tap.
Her finger lightly touched my head.
“You’re on my mind.”
Hearing that line, I was genuinely shocked, my body freezing.
“Cut! That was great! We’ll keep the last ad-lib too.”
I couldn’t move.
‘…That line.’
It was something I said to Ryubyul during our college drama club days. Is she crazy? No way.
★★★
While Yeom Haejin shot some insert scenes, I popped a headache pill Manager Min Seo-eun gave me.
‘I just don’t get it.’
She saw me? Unless she’s crazy, that can’t be right.
The scene Ryubyul just created was from our college theater club days, the actions and words I said to her when she struggled with acting. I pressed my throbbing head with my fingers.
‘…Come to think of it, she never said who her inspiration for Sohyun was.’
I walked over to Ryubyul, who was drinking water, and asked directly.
“Ryubyul. You.”
“Huh? What?”
No way, right? I asked with that hope.
“Is your inspiration for Kim Sohyun… me?”
Ryubyul looked at me silently. Just as I was about to press her, a calm voice answered.
“Yeah, it’s you.”
“You told me back then to use someone around me as inspiration.”
She answered nonchalantly.
‘…Why me?’
No matter how I thought about it, Kim Sohyun and I had nothing in common. Unable to guess why, I stayed silent, and Ryubyul explained further.
“Kim Sohyun’s personality reminded me of you in college. You knew how to comfort people.”
“…I think you got the wrong idea about me.”
I narrowed my eyes and stared at her. I only cared a little for my people.
For others, I wasn’t comforting—I was indifferent.
‘I was cold, wasn’t I?’
I rubbed my goosebump-covered arm vigorously.
“Your compliments are giving me chills.”
“…What’s with that reaction?”
Huh? Ryubyul lowered her voice like she was angry. Her lips, briefly pressed into a line, opened.
“You’re kind. If you ignore your college days, you deserve the praise.”
“…Huh?”
“No one thought badly of you. There were people who badmouthed me, though.”
How can she spew such sugary words so shamelessly? It was embarrassing.
“Thanks for seeing me in a good light.”
Mixing embarrassment and awkwardness in my response, Ryubyul’s face suddenly turned playful.
“Why? Why? Are you touched?”
“…No.”
Damn it. I hesitated in my reply.
“Huh? You answered late.”
“I was just stunned.”
“Doesn’t seem like it. Im Bada wouldn’t react like that.”
Her questions came like an interrogation, but thankfully, the Youngyoung behind-the-scenes camera approached. Ryubyul, noticing it, shut her mouth.
‘Perfect timing.’
The behind-the-scenes staff flipped open a sketchbook to show a question.
[Were you actually close in college?]
“We were close.”
“We were.”
Ryubyul and I answered at the same time. The sketchbook flipped to another question.
[What’s your actual relationship?]
Our relationship. Well…
“It’s a relationship that can’t be defined by a single word.”
Maybe we’ve walked the same path.
“…Yeah.”
Ryubyul nodded belatedly, smiling. Then, stretching as she glanced at the behind-the-scenes camera heading toward Im Hoon, she said,
“Im Bada. Be careful during acting.”
“…Careful?”
“You popped up in that last ad-lib scene.”
…She noticed that detail.
“I’ll be careful.”
“Yeah, says Ryubyul, your indefinable relationship.”
She whistled, a habit she had when in a good mood.
‘Why’s she so happy?’
She’s so weird.
“We have the press conference tomorrow.”
Yeom Haejin brought it up.
“I’m wearing a hanbok.”
It’s a historical drama, so marketing with hanboks?
‘Not a bad idea.’
★★★
The Tormented him and Happy Her press conference. Director Kim Jin was trembling with nerves, his face pained.
“Director Kim, relax. It’s turning into the drama’s title.”
“…Haha.”
Even Kim Jungwoo’s joke to ease the tension didn’t help—Kim Jin’s worries prevailed.
‘…Damn, I’ve got a bad feeling.’
Rumor had it that Im Soojung, the CBS Drama Department Head, saw the rough edit of Youngyoung episode 1 and exclaimed, “This is it!”
Im Soojung, who led the golden age of dramas, was said to have been impressed just by the rough edit, which gave Kim Jin a bad feeling.
Moreover, Im Soojung had harshly criticized The Tormented him and Happy Her as too ordinary and unappealing.
Even for a cable channel, Kim Jin couldn’t help but be concerned.
Especially since Im Soojung openly said Im Bada’s acting in Youngyoung episode 1 was good.
No.
He slapped his cheek with his palm. You can’t judge a drama by its first episode.
“Director Kim Jin?”
Jo Janghee, in a white suit, smiled brightly and muttered through her teeth.
“Yes? Yes?”
“Get it together. There are cameras everywhere.”
She subtly scolded him for still nervously shaking his leg.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
That woman’s always like this.
“If the director looks nervous, it’ll seem like our drama’s doomed.”
“…Yes.”
“Got it?”
“Yes, yes.”
Steadying his breathing, Kim Jin calmed himself. This press conference was a new format, streamed live on YouTube.
“We’re starting the live.”
After introducing the cast and drama, reporters’ questions poured in.
One question kept coming up.
“The Tormented him and Happy Her is airing at the same time as the cable channel drama Youngyoung. Are you confident you’ll win?”
Kim Jin mostly dodged the question, but—
“We’re confident we’ll win!”
Kim Jungwoo ruined it.