Chapter 64
Chapter 64
Translator: Penny
Chapter 64
If S#87 was a highlight that showcased Yeongwol's unmatched strength.
S#88 is a highlight where Yeongwol's true identity is revealed.
'Is this also a kind of Real identity?'
The biggest concern for Ha-eun while preparing for the filming of S#88 was Yeongwol's feelings upon finally being exposed as a woman.
This S#88 was also the part where the unique characteristics of a cross-dressing character were most clearly revealed.
Like many cross-dressing characters, Yeongwol is also taken aback by the revelation of her true identity.
Furthermore, she desperately tries to hide her female appearance, even with her still-injured body.
'The mask.'
For Yeongwol, her male appearance was a mask that had allowed her to stay by Lee Hyun's side.
Even knowing it was already too late, she turned her body away from Lee Hyun to hide her exposed upper body for that reason.
Only the bodyguard Yeongwol can be by Lee Hyun's side.
She has to wear that mask, which is nothing but lies from head to toe, to be with Lee Hyun.
However, now that the mask has been peeled off once.
Now that her true identity has been revealed once.
She knew implicitly that she could no longer hide her identity.
That she could no longer stay by Lee Hyun's side.
"…Please punish this woman who dared to deceive Your Highness…."
Engulfed in deep sorrow, she says she will accept the punishment for deceiving Lee Hyun until now.
Her outward appearance is also more fragile than ever.
Ha-eun already understood why a strong person like Yeongwol would become so weak just because her identity was revealed.
Or rather, she already knew.
'It's inevitable to be afraid.'
In her past life, Ha-eun also fabricated an image far from the truth to be loved.
She knew all too well what the fear was like when her frail true self was revealed due to an unintentional mistake.
The extinction of the affection she had been able to receive by playing a false role.
The abandonment and neglect that filled the void of what she had so desperately wanted.
Strictly speaking, Yeongwol has not yet been abandoned or neglected.
However, because she firmly believed that she would soon be cast out by Lee Hyun.
Ha-eun thought that the bitter feelings she had experienced countless times in her past life could soon become Yeongwol's feelings.
She thought she could express Yeongwol's expression with that dark look reflected in the hospital room window.
A pathetic figure with not even a grain of sand of hope.
Just like that, holding her breath and waiting for Lee Hyun's disposition, at that moment.
-Swish.
Not a cold voice, but warm fingers dug between Yeongwol's scarred fingers.
What followed was a calm voice of a kind far from anger.
"…So small."
Soon, the expression that her gaze, which turned involuntarily, met was also calm.
A face that didn't show even a speck of betrayal towards Yeongwol.
She couldn't help but be flustered.
She couldn't help but be confused.
She is a criminal who deceived the Crown Prince.
Only punishment and disposition should have been given.
Mercy and kindness were absolutely impossible.
It shouldn't have happened.
And yet.
"Thank you for coming back."
Eyes.
Expression.
Voice.
Finally, even the soft warmth that enveloped her hand.
"And, never…leave again. That is my command."
It was so warm.
What should she say?
What on earth should she say?
A sight she had never seen even in her dreams.
A sight she had not even been allowed to dream of.
She couldn't believe that such a dreamlike sight was reality.
She couldn't believe it at all.
"I am a…criminal who deceived Your Highness."
"You are also the benefactor who saved my life."
"I just wanted to keep being by Your Highness's side. Because of my trivial selfishness."
"It is because of that trivial selfishness that I am still alive."
"I was afraid of the oppression that would befall my father, so I ran away without trusting Your Highness!"
"It is my fault for not making you trust me."
How could I blame you?
Soon, the added calm voice completely broke Yeongwol down.
Her head dropped.
Her shoulders trembled slightly.
Her voice slowly began to get wet.
"It cannot be, Your Highness. You must not embrace such a sinful woman…."
Out of guilt towards Lee Hyun, she only said things that were the opposite of her true feelings.
However, the answer that came back from the still gentle voice was.
"How can I embrace all the people if I cannot embrace one woman I love?"
What Yeongwol had wanted to hear so much in the past.
"I cherish you, Wol."
Her breath stopped for a moment at the sincere voice.
Almost simultaneously, her heart began to beat faster.
Soon, she carefully raised her trembling gaze.
And, at the very end, she barely asked.
"Since…when…?"
"Since the time you saved me once again. No, maybe it could have been from that forest back then."
Strictly speaking, Lee Hyun realized that his feelings for Yeongwol were love after confirming Yeongwol's identity with his own eyes.
However, there was no change in the fact that he had cherished Yeongwol for quite some time.
"Grant me your wish to keep being by my side."
The truth that Yeongwol unconsciously blurted out came back in a form she could not even dare to imagine.
Soon, she met a faint smile.
Lee Hyun's warm touch was also still softly intertwined.
In response, Ha-eun also gradually began to create an expression that she had never made before.
An expression she had never been able to make before.
'...Jackpot.'
'This is going to get quite a high viewership rating.'
'This scene will definitely be in the news.'
The emotions that welled up from the depths of her heart were clearly revealed in her eyes.
Eyes that were wet but did not look sad.
Lips that trembled and could not easily utter any words.
All of those things were the truth that Yeongwol was showing for the first time.
It was the love she was showing for the first time.
What Yeongwol had to constantly hide and suppress in the past.
What she thought would never be achieved no matter when.
But, finally.
"Please…become my husband…."
"Gladly."
She received an answer.
Soon, the two gazes, filled only with affection for each other, met in the air.
The distance between the two people, which had narrowed quite a bit at some point.
Soon, Lee Hyun's hand, which slowly reached out, wrapped around the back of Yeongwol's head.
Like that, getting closer and closer.
-Tap.
Only when they could no longer get any closer did she completely close her eyes.
At the same time, a warm tear ran down Yeongwol's left cheek.
S#88.
Reunion.
It was a perfect ending that perfectly matched the name.
"What do you think, Sung-jae?"
"I think it came out well? Especially the emotional lines."
"Ha-eun?"
"I think it was…well-shot."
To be honest, I didn't dare to reshoot.
Well, it was Ha-eun's first time acting in a skinship scene in her 18 years of life.
I had known about the existence of the skinship scene for a long time.
The difference between knowing it in my head and actually acting it was bigger than I thought.
Of course, it was just acting, so it wasn't something to worry about that much.
Still, I thought it might be a little difficult to keep reshooting and doing skinship acting countless times.
It was also difficult to bring back Yeongwol's emotions, which had reached their peak a little while ago, all at once.
Well, one way or another.
Even Jin Gyu-seong thought there wasn't anything particularly wrong.
No, rather, it was such a perfect shoot that I wondered if we could even reproduce the same scene again.
"Thank you both for your hard work today."
Yoo Sung-jae and Ha-eun, the two lead actors of .
And, he informed all the other staff that today's filming was over.
However, Yoo Sung-jae and some other male actors had to remain on set.
The reason was.
"Um, wouldn't it be better to just turn on the speakers and practice? Does anyone have a Bluetooth speaker?"
"Hee-sung went to get it anyway."
The filming of a special dance video for the promotion of was just around the corner.
Since Yoo Sung-jae and the other male actors had their own schedules, it was better to practice when everyone was gathered on set like now.
In the end, it was for the success of , so the actors also wanted to do their best.
The dance practice continued for about 30 minutes after that.
And, one person had been watching the dance practice all along.
"Isn't that Ha-eun?"
"Hasn't her manager arrived yet? Why hasn't she gone home yet?"
Not long after that, Yoo Sung-jae, who had stopped dancing for a while due to the urging of the other actors ─ they were almost old enough to be her fathers ─ approached Ha-eun.
However, before he could ask why Ha-eun was still on set.
"Can I join too?"
"The dance video? Or the dance practice?"
"Um…. Both?"
Ha-eun's request to appear in the dance video came first.
In Ha-eun's memory, the special promotional video for was a video that caused quite a stir.
Its views had also surpassed 10 million, so she thought that if Ha-eun, who played Yeongwol, also appeared in the video, it would cause even more buzz.
Afterwards, Yoo Sung-jae pondered over it for a while and called the staff in charge of the promotional video to ask if Ha-eun could participate.
"Ha-eun cannot."
Jin Gyu-seong, who happened to overhear this right next to him, immediately cut her off.
The reason was that the image of Yeongwol, who had to show strong charisma in the early to mid-stages of , could be damaged.
Ha-eun didn't think it would be that damaged.
But, if the director, Jin Gyu-seong, said so, then that was that, so she ended up giving up on appearing in the dance video.
However.
"Then, can I at least join the dance practice?"
"I won't stop you from practicing…. Why specifically?"
"Ah, that's…. …It looks fun."
She insisted on participating in the dance practice.
'Where else would there be a Virtual Youtuber who danced with Yoo Sung-jae?'
It was for purely personal reasons.
Soon, the dance practice resumed with Ha-eun added.
Unlike the male actors who had been practicing together several times, she hadn't really practiced dancing with Ha-eun, so she decided to just focus on the participation.
'Why is she so good at it?'
She had practiced dancing to some extent for the Fantasy Home audition support video in the past.
Thanks to the fact that the special promotional video for was vividly etched in Ha-eun's memory, she was able to blend in seamlessly with the male actors.
"I think we can put this in the making film?"
A staff member who had been watching Ha-eun's flawless dancing skills made a suggestion.
This time, Jin Gyu-seong accepted the staff's suggestion because there was no particular reason to object.
The promotion-related meeting was officially held a few days later.
"Instead of Sung-jae appearing alone on <2 Days & 1 Night>, I think it would be better for Ha-eun to appear together?"
After that, several more ways in which the actress Lee Ha-eun could contribute to the promotion of were suggested.
Among them, the one that received the most support was related to KBC's representative variety show, <2 Days & 1 Night>.
The viewership ratings have been a bit sluggish lately.
It is a sufficient program to achieve the purpose of promoting the drama.
However, the fact that Ha-eun was still a minor bothered him.
The fact that <2 Days & 1 Night> was a slightly rough variety show also caused Jin Gyu-seong to worry.
If Ha-eun showed a clumsy side on <2 Days & 1 Night>, Yeongwol's image would also become clumsy.
Therefore, he expressed concern about the idea of having Ha-eun appear on variety shows such as <2 Days & 1 Night>.
"Huh? Director, you really don't know? Ha-eun is great at variety shows!"
"…What are you talking about?"
After hearing that Ha-eun, who had appeared as a guest on the famous variety show a few years ago, had played a big role.
More precisely, after seeing the GIF titled ** that had been heating up online communities for a while.
"It wouldn't be bad for the two lead actors to appear on <2 Days & 1 Night> together."
He changed his position to supporting Ha-eun's appearance on variety shows.
The image of Ha-eun in the internet GIF that Jin Gyu-seong had just seen was quite shocking and fresh.
📝 Translator’s Note:
You may notice that certain lines or phrases in this novel appear both in their original Korean (or Hanja) form and in English translation.
This is intentional — these phrases are classical idioms, divine titles, or poetic expressions that carry layered meanings.
To preserve their original tone and authenticity, the raw text has been kept for reference, while the English interpretation is provided right before or after it. This helps convey both the literal and cultural nuance of the original work.
but if you guys dont want tha raw for future chapters or my future other novels u can just text me on discord and say so discord name Mr.Penny