Chapter 53
Chapter 53
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Malice
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Heard? What do you mean?”
“...So you did hear.”
I'm pretending not to know what she's talking about.
But Director Kim Chi-seung seems convinced that I already know.
Haah—
His long sigh follows.
“No helping it now that you've found out.”
“...Pardon?”
He approaches me, spouting lines like a noir film's villain boss.
I back away to avoid him, but before long, I'm up against the wall.
I grip the phone tightly in my pocket.
If things go south, I'll smash him with it and run.
Have I gotten addicted to the kindness people have shown me lately?
I'd vaguely assumed nothing would happen.
That's why I didn't even think to record video or audio evidence.
'What an idiot...'
Were all my past life's experience and savvy poured solely into acting...?
I never realized I'd grown this careless without noticing.
I should have been more thorough, more calculated.
Even if I've been working out, taking on a grown man charging at me in a woman's body is next to impossible.
'Wait for an opening, land one solid hit, and bolt.'
The moment Director Kim—or this bastard—reaches into his pocket or raises his hand, I'll counter.
Fists are hard to block, so phone it is.
A phone can stop blades and even bullets—it's tough.
Then run like hell...
Not inside the restaurant where the after-party is.
Who knows what a crazed maniac might do.
How many people could properly handle a sane director suddenly gone mad?
They'd all panic, and only act after I'm hurt.
So, head to the KS building.
Get protection from the security there and call for the CEO.
I don't know how much pull Director Kim Chi-seung has in the industry...
But it can't possibly exceed KS Entertainment's CEO.
Police are out. Escalating things won't help me, and I have no evidence to show them anyway.
But the CEO Kim would believe me without proof, I trust.
As I mentally mapped out the plan, keeping a sharp eye on Director Kim Chi-seung...
Thud—
Director Kim Chi-seung suddenly drops to his knees.
“Please keep it secret! If word gets out that Ye-rim is my daughter, it'll cause all sorts of talk!”
“...Huh?”
A weird reaction slips out unbidden.
Daughter? Not an affair between director and actress?
Thanks to the green window, I knew Director Kim had a daughter.
But I had no idea she was an actress—let alone one in the same project.
In some ways, it was more shocking than an affair.
My grip on the phone loosens.
“...What, you really didn't hear anything?”
“...”
I'm too stunned to speak.
Kim Chi-seung jumps to his feet. He seems to sense something's off himself.
“Ha, Director Kim. No, Dad. You're spilling our father-daughter secret to someone who knows nothing, all because you got scared prematurely? And after badmouthing me with Uncle Jae-moon...”
“Ye-rim, that's... um, sorry...”
Kim Ye-rim stares at Kim Chi-seung in disbelief.
Uncle Jae-moon... Cinematographer Im Jae-moon, probably.
He was friends with Director Kim Chi-seung, and apparently knew about their relationship.
But is this the same girl who was whimpering 'You're cold only to me, mean only to me!'?
The tearful lamb from moments ago has turned into a vicious lioness, ready to devour her own father.
“Sorry doesn't fix it! What now? She's with KS. You can't cover it up with your influence, and neither can DK.”
“Winter isn't the type to go blabbing, and there's no reason she'd...”
“Even now, you're defending Jeong Gyeowol. You're exhausting.”
“This is all because you bullied Winter! Strictly speaking, it's not entirely my fault...”
“So it's my fault? Because you like her more than me! Why is that on me?!”
Suddenly, I'm sidelined. They're too busy fighting each other.
Kim Ye-rim must be hitting puberty at 21.
And Director Kim Chi-seung fights back like a child.
How did they hold it together on set?
“Um... please don't fight...”
“Stay out of it!”
“Yeah, Winter. This is our business.”
I try to intervene, but they snap at me in unison.
'...Hmm.'
I have no father or daughter.
But I'm certain sticking my nose in a parent-child spat won't end well.
“Then... may I go now...?”
Watching them bicker feels awkward, so I try to slip away.
But the lioness pauses her fight with Kim Chi-seung and approaches me.
“Hey, Jeong Gyeowol. It'll sound funny coming from me, who's been tormenting you all day... but could you keep it secret? I swear I won't bully you anymore... And that's not all. I'll make up for every bit of pain I've caused. Call me anytime, anywhere, and torment me back.”
“I wasn't tormented that badly...”
Less bullying, more typical power plays and senior hazing.
And even that felt like mere probing, before the real game began.
Yet here she is apologizing like I was some school bully victim.
Why go this far?
It's not even an affair... Just a father-daughter thing.
That can come out, right?
Is she worried about backlash over the lead casting process?
Even so, this seems excessive.
“...Not tormented? Are you sparing my feelings?”
“...”
Not sparing. It really wasn't bad.
Now I'm getting a read on Kim Ye-rim's character.
She's just a tough-acting coward, a fragile girl.
Thinking a few words on set tormented me means she was tormented in that situation.
Wait a minute.
Tormented...?
Is she confessing right now to stealing my water bottle, blanket, and slippers?
Then— Ring ring.
“Ah, got it! I'll head back right away!”
“...?”
Head back? With everything a mess?
“Hey, kids, sorry, but the rep from our biggest investor is calling for me... Wrap up and come in!”
“Biggest investor rep means DK's CEO... our CEO. Isn't he here for me? Why are you going, Dad...?”
Kim Chi-seung ignores her and leaves.
No clue if it's real or an excuse to escape.
My trust in Director Kim Chi-seung is hitting rock bottom.
Is our movie really okay?
I'm staring at his retreating back in disbelief.
Kim Ye-rim suddenly grabs my clothes.
The lioness is a meek lamb again.
“Truth is, Dad hated me becoming an actress.”
“...Oh... I see...”
I've never offered counseling.
Never promised comfort.
Yet she starts spilling her family history.
Dad's a film director, knows the industry well, so he opposed her acting.
But Kim Ye-rim dreamed of working on a project with him.
“I finally made it here, achieved my dream. But he won't even look at me. Not a word of pride. It's all because of you.”
“...Pardon?”
Why me again?
I'm on the verge of bolting.
“Can't count how many times he brought you up at home. 'Jeong Gyeowol should've played Lee Ji-an, not Kim Ha-yul.' He raved about your drama endlessly. Ignores my work entirely... How do you think that felt...?”
“...”
On set, she was sorry.
Seeing your face made her snap.
Forgive her. And please keep the secret.
Tears stream from her eyes again after those words.
But Kim Ye-rim just huffed and hazed a bit—nothing serious.
Is this... a 21-year-old actress's emotions?
Is this... the true heart of the girl I thought was a drill sergeant?
She's young.
Too young.
I'm young too, but she's excessively so.
Nothing to forgive or say. Just one thing to clarify.
“Did you by any chance take my water bottle, blanket, and slippers from set?”
“...What? Why would I take those?”
“...?”
Didn't sound like a lie.
No reason to hide it now, so she's not the one.
'...If not her, then who?'
For now, I soothe the still-crying Kim Ye-rim.
Heading back to the party like this? Who knows what rumors.
Someone might've seen her storm off and me chasing.
Then her crying back? Instant 'actress bullies senior' headline.
Stop the tears, fix makeup, return like nothing happened...
'Ha... reality check.'
How'd I end up consoling her?
Still, I probe gently.
“I'm an outsider, so as long as it helps the project, I don't care if it succeeds or flops. Long as I get paid. But you're different, Ye-rim. You don't see him as just money or a tool, so he sticks in your mind. You just don't know how to express that warmly.”
“...Doesn't feel comforting at all, but thanks.”
“...Hmm, weird. That shouldn't be.”
I racked my brain at full capacity for those words.
No way they're not comforting.
Her sensitivity's off, not my consolation.
I hesitantly hug her shoulders, pat her. Her sobs finally subside.
Just when I think my words worked...
“Let's be friends. Drop the formal speech. I'm a fast '05. Same age as you by Korean reckoning.”
Worked too well, apparently.
I never wanted to get close.
Kim Ye-rim's just a lonely, young girl.
Her father issues scream she'll pester me plenty.
Even as DK's pushed actress... she's inferior to Gold Yuna in every way.
Bluntly, zero benefit to me.
But rejecting her now would make me no different from those who shunned me in my past life.
I recall my old self: unrecognized in the industry, withered by false rumors and scandals.
Kim Ye-rim, unrecognized by her father, young star engulfed in rumors and scandals, rotting from loneliness.
Projecting my past onto her, befriending her might be deceitful, even betrayal.
I don't know if this is right... but how many live perfectly righteously?
I couldn't bring myself to slap away the hand extended by this poor lamb in a harsh world.
“...Sure, friends. But first, fix your makeup? You look tear-streaked—prime for misunderstandings.”
“Ah... yeah, could be. Got it.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ ...Fuck. Seriously fuck.
I always guarded my thoughts to avoid even inner swearing.
But this situation demands it.
Chopsticks, side plates, liquor glasses, water glasses—all gone.
At after-parties, things get passed around; you grab whatever's nearby, even if not yours.
No idea where mine went, but it's routine.
So that's no big deal.
Just get new ones.
The real issue starts now.
Kim Ye-rim, who'd trailed me meekly and taken the seat beside mine, asked what product makes my lip color so naturally pretty.
I said just lip balm, so she wanted the brand.
Arang's gift—I didn't know the name.
Digging in my bag to show her...
My lip balm was gone.
Sure, small things vanish easily.
But water bottle, blanket, slippers, lip balm—all gone in a day?
And the utensils and glasses I'd used?
'...Stalker.'
I'd told Yoo Jun-seung and Kim Gyu-jin I suspected a stalker.
Hoped the company would do something.
Unsure how it'd react knowing I'd noticed, I acted normal, finished the party under the managers' watch, and went home.
Then, starting the next day, photos of me taken secretly started appearing in my mailbox.
Photos only on-set staff could take.
And pics displaying my missing items.
“Crazy... when the hell did they take my stockings?”
Kim Ha-yul doesn't wear stockings.
So not from Nomen set.
Tissues with lipstick marks. Sponges from base makeup.
Tons of takeout cups.
This was blatant malice.