Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Even in Death, Forever
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Kim Ji-su.
To her, a manager at the entertainment agency SYPR, that man was her ideal and her goal—and at the same time, the very reason she lived.
Handsome looks, a gentle personality,
and that captivating appearance that had enchanted countless women.
He was like the perfect embodiment of the ideal: the kind of man any woman would want to love.
Beyond all that, though, Kim Ji-su had another reason why she couldn't help but love this man.
Back in her days as a rookie manager fresh to the entertainment world at SYPR—a time when things were truly grueling—
what had sustained her life were the movies and dramas starring Lee Sung-min.
And every time she crossed paths with him in the agency, his impeccable manners
planted a single goal deep in Kim Ji-su's heart.
The goal of being with this man.
The goal of living in the same house as him,
falling asleep in the same bed.
To achieve it,
Kim Ji-su had spent the past several years grinding herself to the bone.
Years building achievements as a manager and earning her place in the industry.
Then, using every means and method at her disposal to take down her rivals,
Kim Ji-su finally became the manager of her dream man, Lee Sung-min.
Up to this point, things had gone exactly as she wanted,
and Kim Ji-su was convinced that the day she achieved her goal was just around the corner.
But her heartfelt confession, made with swelling anticipation,
was flatly rejected—not by anyone else, but by Lee Sung-min himself.
On the surface, he said, "I want to focus on work right now," but Kim Ji-su could tell.
The disgust plain on his face.
A look that clearly showed he had no interest in her,
despite how much she loved him and how hard she'd worked for this.
It delivered a massive shock to Kim Ji-su's heart, which had been set solely on him all this way.
Years of effort... no, the very reason she lived... all gone in an instant.
But still...
Caught in deep despair, she gradually pulled herself together.
Rejected once didn't mean it was over—things could still turn around.
She'd used every trick in the book to get this far.
Knowing full well that the straight path wasn't the only way,
she resolved to make Lee Sung-min hers, even if it meant crooked methods.
As his manager, she had plenty of means at her disposal, after all.
But not long after.
As she consoled herself and began devising a plan, the section chief spoke to Kim Ji-su in a cold voice.
"Wha... what do you..."
"From next month, handle someone else instead of actor Lee Sung-min."
"Section chief! You can't..."
"You confessed and got rejected, didn't you?"
"!..."
"Why pull that pointless bullshit? You think someone like you matches up with Mr. Lee Sung-min? What if you mess up our actor's condition for no reason!"
"Pointless..."
"I was gonna fire you outright, but Lee Sung-min vouched for you, so consider this leniency!"
"..."
With horrific insults, Kim Ji-su was ousted from the manager position for Lee Sung-min that she'd fought so hard to claim.
It dealt an irreparable blow to her psyche.
Years of effort turned to bubbles in an instant.
The pain of everything that defined her being denied and crumbling away.
And that excruciating agony
twisted the heart of the woman Kim Ji-su into something ugly.
'I can't... I can't let it end like this. After everything I've done to get here. I can't let some other bitch steal Sung-min from me...'
Even a cornered rat will bite a cat.
From the moment all hope seemed lost,
Kim Ji-su began plotting.
She could never give up on Lee Sung-min.
But becoming his woman in this lifetime was now all but impossible.
If they couldn't be together in life...
'At least... even in death, forever...'
Son Bin, section chief at entertainment agency SYPR.
A man known for his cold and ruthless nature,
with no mercy whatsoever in how he handled work—a true cold-blooded type.
But in this moment,
the man who looked like not a drop of blood would spill even if stabbed
was gripped by terror, his face pale, blood streaming down.
"Ji... Ji-su! D-don't do this!... I... I was wrong!"
No matter how cold a person was, they were utterly powerless before the real terror of death.
Kim Ji-su smirked eerily, iron pipe in hand.
Blood dripped from the pipe after she'd already smashed the section chief's head once.
Drugged and unable to flee or fight back, Section Chief Son Bin could only beg for his life...
But to Kim Ji-su, whose eyes had rolled back in madness, it meant nothing.
If anything, seeing this high-and-mighty figure grovel like a dog brought her a vicious thrill.
"Y'know, section chief... I've always thought you were a total asshole."
"Ji... Ji-su...?"
"Bye now."
"! You bitch!!!"
-Thwack!
Pouring in her grudge for mocking her confession and kicking her off the manager spot...
plus all the pent-up rage against this shitty boss.
Kim Ji-su smashed down on his head with all her strength.
The blow left Section Chief Son Bin motionless.
"Ah..."
At the same time, something inside Ji-su's heart
felt like it snapped.
Whether it was her last shred of humanity
or something else, she didn't know.
One thing was clear:
She felt amazing right now.
Buoyed by that euphoric high, Kim Ji-su immediately set off.
To meet her "prince" waiting there...
'Hee... heehee... now... now we can be together... Sung-min and me... forever...'
Kim Ji-su appeared, iron pipe dripping blood.
Seeing her twisted, grotesque smile, Ha Yu-ra began to regret it inwardly.
'If I'd known it'd come to this... I should've just grabbed Seon-hwa and bolted...'
No matter how she looked at it, this mess was all because of that man, Lee Sung-min.
In the chaos of the emergency—and fearing someone might die if she stayed—she'd ended up choosing to help out of kindness...
But now, it was clearly the worst decision possible.
"Hee... heehee... y-you know... Sung-min's a bad guy... doesn't even know my heart... b-but it's okay... I can still love him like that... I'll just get rid of all the bugs in the way..."
Kim Ji-su rambled on in a voice laced with madness.
One wrong move now, and who knew what that lunatic might do.
Not just to Lee Sung-min, but to Ha Yu-ra herself,
or even Seon-hwa—who'd only wanted help getting into position but was now holding him up like a crutch, arms raised high, propping him like a pair of crutches.
Especially Seon-hwa—no one else mattered more to protect right now.
So Yu-ra whispered to her.
"Seon-hwa... see that passage marked with a 6 over there? Run that way."
"B-but what about you, unnie..."
"I'll be fine. I'll follow right after..."
"O-okay. This oppa's fine too. Go on ahead."
"...Mister..."
Seon-hwa hesitated.
She seemed to grasp how serious things were, but Yu-ra couldn't let the girl stay in danger any longer.
"Go! Right now!"
The moment she shouted,
Ha Yu-ra set the supported Sung-min down on the floor, then dashed forward and snatched up the fire extinguisher lying there.
Now armed, Ha Yu-ra faced off against Kim Ji-su.
Her leg throbbed with pain again, but she gritted her teeth and glared at the woman approaching slowly.
"Hey, you. Looks like you're misunderstanding something—don't get any weird ideas!"
"Hee... heehee..."
Kim Ji-su just let out that creepy laugh and kept coming.
Seeing she wouldn't respond to reason, cold sweat beaded on Yu-ra's forehead.
'Haha... fuck... never thought I'd actually live through what I only experienced filming...'
A pretty woman right in front of her.
Who she was didn't register in Kim Ji-su's mind anymore.
All that mattered was that this woman had dared to "hug" her prince.
It was just support, but in her warped perception under extreme stress, that's how it looked.
Just like she'd smashed the section chief's head, she naturally concluded this woman had to go too.
Gripping the pipe, Ji-su charged straight at her.
"Hee hee hee hee! Die! Die!"
The pipe swung with heavy force.
Her opponent had a fire extinguisher, but she moved sluggishly, body clearly impaired.
Each swing made the woman crumple weakly.
Feeling even greater ecstasy, Ji-su spotted a momentary opening and swung the pipe hard.
"Gahhk!"
The woman took a hit to the side and tumbled across the floor.
Ji-su considered finishing her with a head blow, but changed her mind.
What mattered wasn't this bug—it was her prince, slumped there "waiting" for her.
"I said go!"
"No way! If I go, mister dies!"
"Same if you stay, so please just...! Ugh!"
In the midst of this, yet another revolting bug bickering with her man.
Size didn't matter.
There could only be one woman at this man's side: her.
To deal with the last bug,
and to unite forever with her beloved prince right after.
Ji-su started moving again.
That was when.
"...Huh?"
"Yeah?"
"Ah..."
In that instant, a chilling sensation crept over her.
A cold warning rising from instinct along her spine made Ji-su turn around without thinking.
And then,
what came into view
was a woman with purple eyes,
glaring at her from ahead with overwhelming killing intent...