She's Not a Bully, Right?
I couldn't help but jump at the sudden script revision.
"A revision? There isn't some kind of problem, is there?"
A problem had already cropped up once—that was how I'd ended up stepping in as a replacement. There was no law saying it couldn't happen again, so I couldn't easily hide my unease.
"You don't need to worry. Writer Park just watched the footage you shot a moment ago and said he wanted to rewrite some of it. That's all."
"Which means..."
Oh Seok-ho smiled.
"Your screen time will probably go up."
My shooting schedule was only two weeks. The role I'd taken, Lee Bo-hyun, was billed as a rival to the lead, but calling her a true rival was a stretch—more like a sub-rival. There hadn't been that many scenes to begin with. That was why I'd accepted the part. If the shoot stretched any further from here, my schedule could get tangled.
"I'll talk it over with my agency first."
"Understood. The parts Writer Park wants to revise are further along in the story anyway, so you've got plenty of time for a phone call."
With Oh Seok-ho's leave, I hurriedly called Kang Ho-yeon. She wasn't on set. She'd stepped out for a bit to get my lunch.
"Hello? Unnie, Writer Park just—"
I laid out everything that had happened in detail. Kang Ho-yeon was silent for a moment, then said she understood and hung up. Before she did, she told me she might be a little late getting back, so I should just focus on the shoot.
Right. All I have to do is throw myself into my own work.
My job right now isn't VTuber idol—it's actress. You don't call someone studying for the civil service exam a civil servant. Being a VTuber idol is still just in the works. I need to give everything to the job I have now.
I pulled myself together, set my phone down on my assigned chair, and headed back to the set.
"Director."
"Ah, Jiwoo. Did the call go all right?"
"Yes. All I have to do is give everything to the role I've been given. Anything beyond that, the agency will handle."
Oh Seok-ho was taken aback. Young actors usually panicked when a schedule changed out of nowhere, and their performances suffered for it—swollen expectations, or an ego that rose with them as naturally as breathing. But he couldn't find a trace of that in the actress standing in front of him.
I'd heard about her, but I never imagined it'd be this much.
There was no way he could keep treating her like a kid. Oh Seok-ho revised his thinking. He would meet her not as a young actress, but as a real one.
"Then get in there. Everyone else is ready."
"Yes!"
He took the mic.
"All right! First scene of the day! Here we go! Stand by—and action!"
The instant Oh Seok-ho gave the cue, I activated my trait. Lee Bo-hyun's thoughts and memories carved themselves into every inch of my body as I walked into the classroom.
I scanned the room in a flash, hunting for a toy I could play with. The setting was the early 2000s, an era when the strong and the weak were split down a hard, clean line, and Lee Bo-hyun sat firmly on the strong side. No matter what happened inside this school, there was no one who could defy me. No one at all.
Found her.
Lee Bo-hyun's lips curled, just slightly, as she whispered to the lackeys at her side.
"See that girl by the window? Let's go."
No more words were needed. For them, this was the birth of a new toy—and a scramble to stay on Lee Bo-hyun's good side so they wouldn't become toys themselves.
In an instant, the pack closed around Kang Mirae's desk. The other students dropped their eyes or looked away, desperate not to meet ours. Not a single person was going to help the heroine.
"Hi."
Lee Bo-hyun's voice was endlessly clear. And yet the greeting she offered would decide the rest of Kang Mirae's school life.
Kang Mirae lifted her head without a hint of shame. There wasn't a scrap of fear on her face—only backbone.
"Hi. Are you in our class too?"
She met Lee Bo-hyun head-on. Except Kang Mirae wasn't thinking of it as a confrontation at all. Someone had said hello, so she'd said hello back. That was all.
At Kang Mirae's fearless response, Lee Bo-hyun's lackeys went white and stole glances at their queen's face. A beat later, Lee Bo-hyun burst out laughing.
"Puhahaha!!"
Her laughter swept terror through the lackeys. Fear, thick and choking—and the dread of what was about to land on their poor classmate.
A slow reach. Lee Bo-hyun's hand closed on Kang Mirae's hair. Why? Because she liked the hair? Not even close.
"You're interesting."
Lee Bo-hyun stroked the hair, almost gently. Every little motion left Kang Mirae puzzled. Why the sudden petting? Why the praise?
The smile that had been climbing Lee Bo-hyun's mouth vanished.
"Haa..."
Veins began to rise. She turned her gaze on the lackeys. Every last one of them was shaking, scared out of their minds.
It felt disgusting. How dare she talk back to the queen—and then look her straight in the eye on top of it. The worst part was Kang Mirae's eyes. It felt filthy. It was infuriating. I wanted her out of my sight this second.
The immersion synced tighter and tighter with Lee Bo-hyun.
Then a furious voice filled the classroom.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
A boy slammed through the classroom door. He wasn't in street clothes—the uniform said he went to this school. Lee Bo-hyun turned around, slow. He kept shouting something, but it didn't quite reach her ears.
Whoa... he's hot.
Love at first sight. Ever since her family had struck it rich, plenty of boys had come calling—sons of powerful men, all of them. Every last one had been boring, their personalities clashing so hard with hers that she'd dumped them before anything real could start. And every time, her father had chewed her out. That much she could live with. The real problem was that none of them had been handsome enough to actually catch her eye.
And now, at last, a face she liked was standing right in front of her.
A slow turn. She looked at Kang Mirae again.
"A friend of yours?"
"Yeah. She's my friend. We've been together since we were little."
"Is that so? So that's how it is..."
Lee Bo-hyun murmured it, almost to herself.
"We're leaving."
The lackeys, lost, asked again.
"W-wait, what? We're just leaving?"
"Hey."
"Y-yeah?"
"You think I'm joking?"
"N-no..."
"Then shut up and move. And you—I'll see you later, friend."
Lee Bo-hyun led her pack out of the classroom.
Then—
"My name is Kang Mirae! Not 'friend.'"
Kang Mirae shot up from her seat and introduced herself. Watching her, Lee Bo-hyun let out a short laugh.
"Fine. See you later."
The moment she was out of the classroom, the smile was gone. Her face was blank. You couldn't read a single emotion on it. Then she tossed out one last line.
"Bring her to that place later. Quietly. Don't let anyone know."
And with the image of her walking away alone, the scene was supposed to end.
The camera kept tracking Lee Bo-hyun—until her movement stopped dead. No sound. Nothing.
What? Cut should've been called by now.
Normally, the cut would have come the instant she left the classroom. It still hadn't, so she'd ad-libbed extra beats—and still, no cut.
"...What the hell."
Watching the monitor, Oh Seok-ho had missed his timing completely.
"Uh... PD? Jiwoo isn't... actually like that at school, is she?"
A staffer's voice cut in. Only then did Oh Seok-ho snap back and glare at him.
"What are you talking about? You heard what she said earlier!"
"I know, but... even so, that looked... real."
He had a point. Even granting that she could act, this was a level that could drag a viewer's own schoolyard trauma up from the grave. If someone had told you that was her real personality, you'd have nodded along.
Just who the hell did I bring onto this set?
An actor who'd arrived late to set watched the performance that had just unfolded, and someone else's words came back to him.
Work hard. Unless you want people saying you're riding her coattails.
At the time, he hadn't understood. No matter how good the acting, she was still just a rookie. There had to be gaps.
It wasn't that.
The reason Choi Chun-sung had been skipping drinks lately and grinding at his craft was standing right in front of him.
"PD."
"Huh? Oh—oh! Gil-hyun, you're here. We just wrapped the first take, so you'll have to wait a bit for your turn. That okay?"
"That's fine, but... where did you even find a kid like that?"
Oh Seok-ho couldn't answer Lee Gil-hyun's question right away. The best he could manage was:
"...I have no idea."
All he could say was that he'd gotten lucky.
"Hoo..."
Cut finally came, and I let out the breath I'd been holding in one long rush. Then I headed back onto the set and approached Ahn Soo-jin, who'd been acting opposite me.
"Are you okay?"
It wasn't worry about the acting. It was worry about Ahn Soo-jin's mental health. While the cameras were rolling she'd given everything as Kang Mirae, but the moment cut was called, she'd gone limp over the desk.
"Uh... uhh... I-I'm fine... I just... remembered some old stuff... ahaha."
Ahn Soo-jin laughed with an awkward smile. Watching that smile, I reached out a little.
She flinched. Her whole shoulder jerked as she shied from my hand.
So she really had been a victim of school violence.
A question rose. Why would someone carrying that kind of trauma take this drama? I wanted to ask, but we weren't close enough yet. Digging into something that deep...
If only Tsuki were here.
Tsuki wouldn't have hesitated. She'd have just asked whatever she was curious about. Maybe that was a side of her I ought to learn from.
All right. I'll just try it.
Squeeze my eyes shut once and get bold. Something my usual self would never even consider.
Look Only at Me!
Role: Lee Bo-hyun
If I'd only caught on a little faster, none of what was about to happen would have.
"Tell me anything. I'll take care of it."
But no answer came.
"..."
Ahn Soo-jin's face had gone paper-white. She looked one second from foaming at the mouth.
"Uh... uhh? Stay with me!"