The Most Beautiful Exit
“……Is it weird to say it like that?”
Sunwoo scratched his head. But he couldn't help but feel this way. The content of the next three episodes dealt with the life and death of the character ‘Yoo Jieun’ with such delicate precision. It felt as if those episodes existed solely for the sake of her death.
And Kim Sunwoo was the person watching every bit of that journey from the closest vantage point. It was because he was the only one in this space to whom Yoo Jieun had opened her heart.
Even amidst her anxiety, Yoo Jieun dreamed of the future. She vowed that once she left this place, she would live differently than she had in the past. That evening, she delivered dinner to Seo Jinwook.
Seo Jinwook tried to manipulate her, but Yoo Jieun couldn't bear to hear it all. She ran out of the room, falling into a panic. As she hyperventilated, trapped in the hallucination that the dead Justin was approaching her, someone soothed her.
It was Kim Sunwoo.
Sunwoo looked at her with a strange expression—a mix of shock and a deep, vibrating thrill. He seemed to be holding back an overwhelming emotion rising from within his chest.
The thrill he felt when he saw that scene... Sunwoo couldn't wait to act it out. It wasn't just a scene of Yoo Jieun breaking down. She had stained her hands with blood to survive. The sight of her, heart half-shattered by that fact yet struggling to hold herself together, was pitiful to Sunwoo’s eyes—and yet, it was dazzling.
However,
“……Oppa, what kind of emotion is this, anyway?”
Yoo Jieun herself seemed unaware of how dazzling she was in that moment. Sunwoo thought about how to express it. How could he convey it best?
“It’s because you’re so beautiful.”
“……Huh? I mean, I’m pretty, but is it to that extent?”
That clearly wasn't the right way to put it. Sunwoo shook his head hurriedly.
“No, that’s not it. It’s your emotions, the situation, and... don't you really know?”
As he spoke, he felt a strange sense of pity. In this moment, Yoo Jieun and everything surrounding her were shining with such exquisite beauty, yet she didn't know it. Jieun nodded with a sour expression.
“Not at all.”
“The fact that you killed that person, and the fact that you’re so tormented by it... it’s so pitiful and lovely. Maybe ‘beautiful’ is a better word? Anyway, Sunwoo finds you pitiful and dazzling at the same time. Do you know what I mean?”
“……I really don’t get it.”
Jieun said with a disgruntled face, “Isn’t Kim Sunwoo just a total weirdo?”
At that moment, Sunwoo’s world collapsed. But he knew he couldn't explain it with words alone.
“……Let’s try acting it out right now. From the part where you say you killed Justin.”
“Suddenly?”
“Yeah. Quickly.”
“W-wait a second.”
Jieun grumbled inwardly but gathered her emotions. She had always been confident in her acting spontaneity. Her eyes soon began to darken. Panic, depression, and pain filled her gaze.
Pale purple petals, as if soaked in water, bloomed from her. Sunwoo’s expression went blank. As he had said, it was beautiful. The fragility of the petals, the curves they drew, and the way the stamen and pistil tried to stand tall amidst it all. The colors scattering like sparkling pollen.
Sunwoo couldn't help but tremble. It was inevitable. The anxiety and resentment he felt from Jieun’s petals were so human. So lovely.
And Jieun, facing that performance, was stunned.
‘What... what on earth is this?’
The look in Kim Sunwoo’s eyes as he watched her—or rather, Yoo Jieun—was of a kind she had never encountered in her life. It was the look of someone who had spent their whole life in the city and finally encountered the ocean on a trip. A look that suggested he had met something incredibly beautiful.
She couldn't understand it. How could he look at her like that? But as she met his gaze, she didn't even have the heart to ask. Just as a parent’s gaze toward their child is naturally warm, Sunwoo’s gaze seemed naturally destined to shine like that.
“How was it? Do you understand now?”
“……Yes, I do.”
Jieun nodded. Her mind was complex, but when she came to her senses, she found herself saying:
“Kim Sunwoo... looking at me, you’ve started to want to live, too.”
“Want to live... huh.”
“Isn’t that right?”
“No, you’re right. Yeah. That’s exactly it. The more I look at you, the more I want to live.”
“Good. Now that we’ve acted it out... I understand.”
Sunwoo breathed a sigh of relief. In truth, he needed Jieun to do her absolute best this time.
‘Only when Yoo Jieun shines can Kim Sunwoo shine, too.’
That was the essence of Kim Sunwoo. A character who could only sparkle when reflecting the light of others. Especially now, when he could resonate with others' emotions more easily than ever.
“Let’s do it again.”
He said it because, while her acting wasn't bad, it wasn't quite satisfying. Jieun looked at him, slightly flustered.
“……Again?”
“Yeah. You know it, too. The emotion you showed just now... it felt too much like you were just breaking down.”
“Isn’t breaking down what the scene calls for?”
“It’s about struggling to hold on even while breaking down. Like hanging from a cliff, clutching a branch. You know what I mean?”
“Hmm, I’ll give it a try.”
Sunwoo’s feedback was legendary among the actors for its quality. While Yeonwoo gave the most detailed advice, Sunwoo’s feedback helped them see perspectives they hadn't even considered.
“You have to be pitiable.”
According to Sunwoo, that was who Yoo Jieun was. A character no one could call successful or great, but someone everyone would eventually keep in their hearts and root for. That was Yoo Jieun, the student who had failed her entrance exams three times. A child who had never once shone, but wanted to be something. A child who was her mother’s only comfort.
Like a pasqueflower bowing its head, Yoo Jieun was somehow shabby yet beautiful. Perhaps that was why her death was so anticipated. Ryu had prepared a truly perfect exit scene for her.
Having confessed to Kim Sunwoo that she was the culprit, Yoo Jieun slowly found peace of mind. She told him that even though the guilt of killing someone still tormented her, she wanted to live right now. She wanted to spread her wings and fly in that world, just once.
At a glance, it seemed like everything would return to its place. But night fell, and the time for voting drew near. Seo Jinwook desperately tried to tear off the bedsheets binding him, but he was only wasting time. And then, the lights in his room went out, and someone entered.
The shadow dropped a steak knife in front of Seo Jinwook. Seo Jinwook swallowed hard. Leaving him there, the shadow exited the room. He had given Seo Jinwook the means to escape.
> In a moment, we will begin the vote.
> All players, please move to your respective rooms.
Seo Jinwook tore off the rest of the sheets. He had only one option. It was obvious who would die if the vote proceeded. He had to stop the vote. He knew how.
Seo Jinwook left his room and tried to open the others. But they were all locked tight.
“Damn it, damn it...!”
But there was one. By chance, a piece of cloth was caught in the door frame, preventing it from closing properly.
I don't need to explain what happened next.
> Player Yoo Jieun has been eliminated.
> Due to an early elimination, there will be no vote today.
The broadcast echoed. The emotion Kim Sunwoo felt at this moment was complex, subtle, and ecstatic. Sunwoo opened his mouth with a serious expression.
“I’ll help you. So you can die properly.”
“H-how do I die properly?”
He couldn't stand to see Jieun die clumsily. It wasn't for her sake. It was for his own. The shock and confusion Kim Sunwoo felt in this moment would only grow stronger the more Yoo Jieun longed for life.
“It’s no fun if a person who has given up dies. When you die, you have to want to live like crazy. It has to feel like you’re someone who doesn't want to die more than anyone else for that death to be attractive.”
Hmm. It made sense. But that was that... Jieun shivered.
‘This oppa, his eyes are so scary.’
……He was definitely a genius. But the more she looked at him, the more she realized he wasn't normal. He was gently, subtly insane.