Han Minyeong (6)
“Ugh! What the hell is this? It stinks! What the heck have you been up to?”
“I didn’t do it! I just happened to see it last night. Someone buried something weird here. I was too scared to dig it up then, so I waited till sunrise.”
“You’re such a scaredy-cat. If you’d caught them in the act, you should’ve nabbed them on the spot. Too bad I wasn’t here yesterday.”
“Speaking of, why are you here?”
“I was out for a run? Just circling the neighborhood.”
“You live around here?”
“Yeah.”
Kim Jihye felt a strange mix of emotions upon learning that Hwang Sangho—one of the top three prince candidates at school—lived in a neighborhood that was far from upscale.
“So it wasn’t what I thought.”
“What wasn’t?”
“Never mind. Let’s just check this out. I’m dying to know what’s inside.”
“Do we have to? It looks like trash.”
Hwang Sangho picked up a stick and jabbed it deep into the black bag.
“Eek!!”
He screamed at the weird sensation. The stick fell to the ground, and a bizarre red liquid clung to its tip—clearly visible to both of them.
“I-is that blood? A-a body?!”
“No way!! There’s no way he would do something like that.”
“What?! You know who did it?”
“Yeah.”
“This is insane. Call the cops right now.”
Hwang Sangho whipped out his phone to dial the police, but Kim Jihye frantically stopped him.
“Wait, wait, wait! Hold on!! Shouldn’t we confirm what it is first before calling?”
“There’s blood on it! It’s murder! Dumping a body!”
“Who buries a body by someone’s backyard wall? That’s too obvious. And the person I saw last night was the student council president!”
“Why would the student council president be out here?”
Hwang Sangho’s eyes went wide at the unexpected culprit. It was too absurd a person to pop up in this scenario.
“Let’s check it out, and if it’s what we think, then we call the cops. If the police come, I’d have to testify that I saw the president—and I don’t think I can handle that.”
“Argh! This is driving me nuts. We could’ve just left it buried and moved on. Why’d you have to dig it up?”
Now Hwang Sangho was scolding Kim Jihye for peeking in the first place and causing all this trouble. He knew getting tangled in something like this just led to headaches all around.
“Pfft, if someone buried crap by your house, wouldn’t you check? And it might not even be a human body. The bag’s pretty small.”
The black bag was way too tiny for a human corpse.
“So what do you think it is, then?”
“I dunno! Let’s just look. It’ll be fine somehow.”
The two scaredy-cats spent ages shoving the task of opening the bag onto each other until Kim Jihye finally mustered her courage. She tore the bag open further with the stick to peek inside.
“Gasp! It’s got fur?! Oh no! It is a body!”
“It’s dead? For real?”
“Y-yeah!!”
“Eek!”
They stomped around in panic, freaking out for a good while, trembling like leaves—until they finally realized it wasn’t human. It was an animal.
“At least it’s not a person. That’s a relief…”
“Dead is dead! What’s relieving about it? This is giving me the creeps.”
There were plenty of stray cats around her house.
“Maybe the student council president picked up a dead stray and buried it? There are tons of strays around here.”
Hwang Sangho’s guess made a certain amount of sense. It was tempting to think so.
But Kim Jihye, having witnessed that terrifying atmosphere last night, couldn’t buy it.
“I hate to say it in a situation like this, but it really looked like the president killed it.”
“C’moooon! You didn’t actually see him kill it! Maybe even he mistook it for something?”
“No way. I saw it clear as day! Eyes wide open, crystal clear! And that face wasn’t one you could mistake for someone else.”
“Fair point. This is nuts.”
“Sorry. But it was seriously scary. It didn’t feel like he was just burying a stray he found.”
Hwang Sangho ruffled his own hair and let out a deep sigh.
“Why would that guy do something like this? What’s he lacking?”
“Maybe he does it because he lacks nothing.”
Delusions started bubbling up in Kim Jihye’s mind. A guy born with antisocial personality disorder. Handsome looks paired with genius-level smarts—he fools everyone around him perfectly. Pretending to be kind and gentle! Then secretly reveling in murder for kicks. Starting with animals. Growing bolder until he finally kills a human!
“The student council president’s a psychopath?”
“Could be. Those types usually start with animals and escalate.”
“So he’s fooling the whole school. Everyone thinks he’s so sweet and nice.”
Yu Euntak even had a fan club at school. With his good looks, unflinching top grades, and kind, capable demeanor toward everyone, tons of people adored him.
Kim Jihye herself was starting to wonder if she’d imagined last night. No. There’s no way I saw it wrong.
Yu Euntak had such an unforgettable face. Mistaking him for someone else? Absurd.
The two agonized over the cat corpse. Was the student council president really a psychopath? A heavy silence hung between Hwang Sangho and Kim Jihye.
“He’s really a psychopath?”
Acting out the revised script was pretty intriguing. Adding a thriller element for summer really amped up the story’s appeal.
But before diving into the performance, I needed to know more about my changed character.
“What do you think?”
Writer Choi Heemin seemed to be on the same wavelength, inviting me to her house. Changing characters mid-shoot would be tough, so why not chat about me and the role? She’d been extra chummy with me at the cast dinner, so the invite wasn’t that burdensome. I didn’t refuse.
“Hard to say. I couldn’t picture it from the script alone.”
“I’ll give you an answer, but keep it from the other actors. I want them to suspect you like their own characters do.”
“Sounds like a fun reveal. I’ll keep it under wraps.”
At my response, Choi Heemin finally spilled.
“My answer? No.”
“Just a misunderstanding, then?”
A bit disappointing if so.
“Nope. Yu Euntak did kill that cat.”
“??”
Not a psychopath? My confused look got her excited, and she dove into specifics about the character Yu Euntak.
“Yu Euntak has a little sister named Yu Eunjin. She’s the real psychopath. Euntak keeps covering for her violent outbursts, and ends up taking lives in the process.”
“Ah!”
Yu Euntak knows killing animals is wrong. He feels pity for them. But to stop his sister from becoming a true ‘psychopath,’ he takes the sin upon himself.
“He’s too kind and gentle to do anything else.”
I couldn’t let that slide without comment. My boosted acting stats and theory books wouldn’t let me.
“But writer, Yu Euntak’s smart. Wouldn’t he know that doesn’t actually change his sister?”
“Exactly—why would a smart guy do something so foolish?”
“Yes.”
Choi Heemin didn’t take offense at my point; she smiled warmly instead.
“Euntak and Eunjin are super close. He raised her like a mom and dad. Even psychopaths have likes and dislikes. Knowing that, Euntak sacrifices himself to correct her behavior. Getting tailed by some average student like Kim Jihye? Ridiculous for someone that sharp. If he wanted, he could’ve disposed of the body perfectly. But he didn’t.”
“He wanted to shock her into stopping. To show her it’s something you shouldn’t do.”
“Right. Simple education wouldn’t stop Eunjin once she tasted the thrill of killing. Euntak realized the biggest shock for her would be seeing him pay the price.”
Not a bad setup. Hell, it was fascinating.
“Will Eunjin straighten out after seeing her brother take the fall?”
“Who knows. At least she’ll know it’s not a total secret anymore—should rein her in some. No more random emotional rampages.”
For Yu Euntak, that’d be worth the sacrifice.
“Keep it from the actors till the end. Make ’em think you’re the psycho. The truth drops at the web drama’s finale. Fun, right?”
“Can’t say it won’t be.”
It would be. For the viewers, the actors—everyone. Yu Euntak fooling them all.
“Upcoming scripts’ll be even better. Look forward to it.”
Choi Heemin flashed a confident grin. If she delivered as promised, I’d act my ass off.
“Guess I’ll have to step up my game.”
“Damn right. I made this character killer—blow it, and I’ll rewrite the whole damn thing.”
I nodded obediently at her cute(?) threat.
Knock knock.
“Honey~ Work with some snacks.”
“Oh, thanks. Dear.”
A tall blonde woman entered with polite knocks, arms full of fruit and snacks.
I jumped up, took the treats from her, and set them on the table.
“Heh, thanks. Such good manners.”
“Were you subtly dissing me for just sitting there?”
“Nah? You’d get it even if I did.”
“True that.”
“Plus, if you get too polite, girls’ll swarm. Keep that rude edge.”
“Got it. Oh! Haesol, this is my wife—the one investing in our drama. Say hi.”
Yang Areum, Choi Heemin’s wife. A mixed beauty blending Western features with Eastern charm.
“Hello. I’m Jin Haesol.”
“Must feel weird being invited to our home. Sorry. He hates going out—especially when writing.”
“Not at all. Your house is gorgeously decorated. A feast for the eyes.”
“Oh! You know art?”
The lavish mansion walls were lined with artworks. Thanks to all the random knowledge I’d bought and crammed in, I’d picked up an eye for it too.