Chapter 42

Ji-woo Pyo, the die-hard stalker of Min Se-ho.

For a whole year, armed with nothing but the single-minded determination to get close to him, she prepared for a career as an actress.

Not only did she successfully debut, but eventually, she even ended up in the same play as him.

As befits a supremely talented newcomer, she successfully managed to join the team Min Se-ho belonged to in “Eyes Closed.”

And that wasn’t all. Through relentless self-promotion, she ultimately secured the position of his girlfriend.

It could truly be called the tear-jerking success story of a stalker.

But then came the problem afterwards.

When Min Se-ho’s complicated relationships with women came to light.

“Min Se-ho is currently seeing not one, not two, but a grand total of five women.”

Octopus arms don’t get much more octopus-y than that.

At this point, it’s almost like he has a different girlfriend for every day of the week.

To top it off, his friends revealed he practically lived at clubs during his free time.

Ji-woo Pyo knew he went clubbing, but she never imagined he was juggling five relationships this way.

The result was as mentioned before — it ended with a Swordmaster conclusion.

“…Have you arrived?”

“Y-yeah.”

In any case, though she was bound to get pricked, Ji-woo Pyo did indeed prick someone, and there’s no denying she drowned one person.

Naturally, it left me feeling somewhat uneasy.

I surreptitiously scanned Ji-woo Pyo up and down.

I was worried she might have brought a weapon.

‘Thankfully, no suspicious parts.’

Also, Ji-woo Pyo doesn’t even carry a bag.

Mostly, she dresses in jeans and a plain shirt.

Actually, her style is more masculine than feminine.

“Why are you in your school uniform?”

“Because I came straight after school.”

What kind of obvious question is this?

I’m a high school student, so it’s natural for me to be in my uniform, isn’t it?

‘…Separate from that, it’s also because I have limited clothes to wear at home.’

Mom’s hobby is enhancing my appearance.

She’s thorough with skincare and pays attention to what I wear.

So my wardrobe is full of bright clothes I didn’t pick out myself.

Therefore, the most neutral thing I can wear is my school uniform.

Seoyeon, 17, is still at the age where her parents pick her outfits…

“There’s something I’ve been curious about.”

“Yes.”

“You… why do you keep looking at me with such a strange expression?”

“It’s your imagination.”

Anyway, I maintained a distance of about a meter from Ji-woo Pyo as we walked.

It’s close enough to react immediately if anything happens.

To my words, Ji-woo Pyo swept her eyes over the surroundings with that peculiar grimace of hers.

“And why here? …You don’t seem like the type to come to a place like this…”

“That.”

I thought about explaining in detail but shook my head.

Seeing things for yourself is better than explaining.

Besides, if I tried to explain in words, she might misinterpret it and attack me.

“Let’s go first.”

Our current location is a busy entertainment district in Gangnam.

It’s a place where the protagonist, actor Min Se-ho, frequently visits.

***

Ji-woo Pyo frowned as she watched Seoyeon’s back as she walked ahead.

Long, black hair.

Very little change in expression—like an exquisitely beautiful doll.

‘And she’s wearing a school uniform here.’

With that appearance, Seoyeon naturally drew stares as she walked through Gangnam’s entertainment district.

The time was 10:30 PM.

At this hour, it was inevitable that a high school girl wandering through an entertainment district would attract attention.

A beauty transitioning from a girl to a woman.

I noticed as men’s gazes followed Seoyeon walking with grace.

An innate aura.

Is this what people mean when they call someone “born to act”?

Ji-woo Pyo isn’t one to back down when it comes to looks either.

Which is why she’s an actress, after all.

While there’s demand for unique-looking actors, ultimately, being talented in other areas is always an advantage.

Bad looks can be masked with makeup, but the reverse is typically impossible.

In that sense, Seoyeon was an intimidating opponent for Ji-woo Pyo, as she triggered her inferiority complex.

Seoyeon herself also felt some wariness, but for Ji-woo Pyo, it wasn’t a comfortable rivalry either.

Which is why Ji-woo was curious about why Seoyeon had summoned her here.

‘Something feels off…’

With an uneasy feeling, Ji-woo followed Seoyeon.

“Shh.”

Seoyeon raised her hand briefly in a waiting gesture.

“This way.”

Seoyeon led them to an alley near a certain club.

It seemed quite famous since people were lining up to enter.

‘Why here?’

Though curious, Ji-woo waited quietly, her heart racing uneasily.

Then, confirming her unease, a group appeared.

Two men and three women.

They seemed familiar with the club staff, exchanging greetings as they entered.

At first, she didn’t recognize him.

His outfit was different from what he usually wore, and a black mask partly covered his face.

“…!!”

But when he lowered his mask to greet the bouncer…

Ji-woo covered her mouth with both hands—it was none other than Min Se-ho.

He had his arm around one woman’s waist, while another clung to him.

Their relationship clearly wasn’t ordinary.

Click.

Ji-woo, whose mind had gone blank, came back to herself at the sound of a small camera.

Turning her head, she saw Seoyeon taking photos of Min Se-ho.

“You… you knew?”

“Yes.”

“How… how?”

Ji-woo, who knew most of Min Se-ho’s daily routine, couldn’t comprehend how Seoyeon could know about his covert private life.

“I… guess, an accident?”

I couldn’t tell her that it was my knowledge from a past life.

And how could I explain that this was the club Min Se-ho frequented, where she once caused a scene?

“I-IIEEEEK!!!!”

Ji-woo, who was momentarily stunned, tried to rush out of the alley.

Or at least, that’s what she tried to do until Seoyeon grabbed her waist and pulled her back.

‘What. What kind of strength?’

As always, no matter how much she tried to shake free, there was no movement.

Finally giving up, Ji-woo shouted.

“Why… Why did you show me this… this? Why… why are you doing this to me!”

It would have been better not to know.

Tears streamed down her face unbidden as she watched Min Se-ho enter the club.

It would be nice to direct her anger toward Seoyeon, but the grip on her waist made her hesitate.

It felt like she’d float away if thrown like that.

Thus, Ji-woo could only protest weakly.

“Why… why… Why are you doing this to me!”

Then her tears flowed even more.

Seoyeon sighed deeply.

“…Wasn’t Min Se-ho your goal?”

“Y-yes, so what’s wrong with that?”

“It’s not bad… But do you still think that after seeing this?”

Seoyeon was telling her this:

If she learned about this later, after things had gone well, could she have stayed calm?

Add to that, Ji-woo chose the acting career for Min Se-ho.

If she didn’t know this, she’d continue wasting time futilely.

At least her acting goals shouldn’t hinge entirely on Min Se-ho.

‘And that incident too…’

Actually, if it weren’t for the Swordmaster incident, Seoyeon wouldn’t have gone this far.

This wasn’t for Min Se-ho’s sake.

It was entirely for Ji-woo Pyo, a talented actress.

“EEEEKHHHH!”

As Ji-woo screamed and sobbed.

“Over here.”

A bulky man approached the two of them.

He alternately looked at the crying Ji-woo and Seoyeon holding a smartphone.

“Student, what did you just take a picture of? I saw it all. Show me your phone.”

Sweeping her eyes around briefly, Seoyeon noted it wasn’t yet drawing too much attention.

Given the frequency of such occurrences, club security seemed to be on standby.

“If you’re a celebrity?” he thought as his eyes widened at Seoyeon’s appearance.

Had she not been in a school uniform, he might’ve asked her to enter for free.

Still, it was undeniable that she had just photographed the club’s entrance and needed to be checked.

“Okay, hand over your phone quietly…”

At that moment, instead of handing over the phone, Seoyoen’s palm met his chest.

“Whoa?”

In an instant, the club security realized his body had been pushed back and fell over.

Seoyeon had forcefully shoved him with her small hand, and the man, nearly 190 cm tall, tumbled back a few meters.

Even with his guard down, a power like that wasn’t supposed to come from a girl.

It was as if a similarly sized man had strongly pushed him.

“Now…”

And immediately, Seoyeon pulled Ji-woo and began running.

Frankly, Ji-woo was more of a dragged-along passenger.

As the club guard recovered in confusion, Seoyeon and Ji-woo had already escaped the area.

“Haa, haa.”

Ji-woo collapsed onto a nearby bench, breathing heavily after switching from crying to sweating.

Seeing Seoyeon, who hadn’t broken a sweat, left her flabbergasted.

‘What exactly is she?’

Is this normal for today’s high school students?

Surely not.

Having just experienced all that, any thoughts of what to say had fled her mind.

She was just dazed.

“I… what should I do now?”

Despite her less-than-pure intentions, she’d sacrificed a year to pursue acting.

Most things she wasn’t good at, but maybe she had a talent for acting.

If things had gone well with Min Se-ho, she thought she’d continue acting.

But now, that enthusiasm was gone.

“Why… why did you show me this?”

She asked again.

Why had she revealed Min Se-ho’s truth specifically to her?

Seoyeon glanced briefly at the dispirited Ji-woo.

Originally, her intention was to prevent Ji-woo from repeating past mistakes.

And the reason…

“…Isn’t it a waste?”

“Huh?”

“You said you’ve worked for a year, right?”

Ji-woo is a highly talented actress.

She’d spent a year getting into a play with Min Se-ho.

Yes, just one year.

“I thought you had tremendous talent. So…”

Surprisingly, it took only a year for her to be cast in a movie.

She was that talented.

“It’s too precious to give up just because of this.”

“…”

“Because doing something bad for such a person wouldn’t do you justice.”

At Seoyeon’s words, Ji-woo stared at her speechlessly.

She looked awkward.

If you looked closely, it seemed she was shy to say such things, given her usually stoic and emotionally subdued demeanor.

“Just… that’s all.”

With those words, Seoyeon left.

Ji-woo could do nothing but watch her retreating back until the very end.

Silently.

***

“So…”

Jiyeon looked at me with great interest.

“So what happened to actor Min Se-ho?”

“He stepped down.”

To be clear, Seoyeon didn’t file a police report.

A few days later, she received a call informing her she’d passed the audition.

Then, during a meeting with Jo Do-yul, she casually mentioned the incident.

“…I, the pictures. Are they real?”

“Yes. An acquaintance of mine, a senior, took them and showed them to me.”

“Haa…”

Jo Do-yul shook his head as if in pain.

In theater, it’s common to have two to three actors per role.

Since performances are usually scheduled twice or thrice a day, it’s hard for one actor to cover everything.

“The same goes for ‘Eyes Closed,’ where there are three actors for Baesung-hak’s role.”

By the way, this audition was for the ‘Hong Jeong-hee’ role in Min Se-ho’s lead part.

The first and second teams were composed of members who had participated in the original production.

Since one team was missing, it was an audition to recruit new members, with Min Se-ho initially cast as Baesung-hak.

“The role of Baesung-hak probably needs a replacement too…”

He sighed deeply.

While generally, an actor’s personal life isn’t heavily scrutinized, they were nearing the play’s opening.

Getting embroiled in gossip at this time could be a big issue.

Especially since he was involved with two women…

‘Why did it have to be a child?’

Seoyeon.

The influence her name carried was by no means light.

Jo Do-yul could only sigh as his headache worsened.

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