Chapter 2

” I… I like you, Oppa… I’ve liked you for a very long time… Sob… I was here before that woman… Waaah… I haven’t even had the chance to confess my feelings properly… It’s unfair of you to get married without telling me…”

“……”

Dong-gyeong, who had been listening quietly, wore a strangely different expression.

He slowly closed his eyes before opening them again. Letting out a brief breath of disbelief, he bent down to look at Eun-yoo’s face.

Her unusually small, pale face was a complete mess, covered in a mixture of tears and makeup. Gently lifting her chin, Dong-gyeong met her eyes.

“Stop crying. That’s enough, Seo Eun-yoo.”

At his firm yet gentle voice, Eun-yoo pressed her lips together. Dong-gyeong lightly grasped her shoulders and continued.

“I think you’ve misunderstood something.”

“……”

“This is a magazine photoshoot.”

At his unexpected words, Eun-yoo’s eyes widened.

“A-a magazine photoshoot…?”

“Yeah. An older acquaintance of mine asked me to help.”

“You’re… not getting married…?”

“No. So go home now. And stop interrupting the photoshoot.”

Phew, what a relief…

Just as she was feeling relieved upon hearing that he wasn’t getting married, her mind suddenly went blank, as though someone had poured cold water over her entire body.

It was a moment of harsh reality.

Determined to stop Dong-gyeong from getting married, she had rushed all the way here without even removing her zombie makeup, and confessed her feelings on impulse.

W-What on earth have I just done…?

The moment she realized what she had done, Eun-yoo’s face grew as hot as if it had been burned. At the same time, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end.

She had never even found the courage to confess her unrequited love, but she had never wanted to confess like this…

She could hear people whispering among themselves throughout the studio. She was so embarrassed that she couldn’t even raise her head.

How am I ever going to face Oppa Dong-gyeong again…?

Overwhelmed by self-loathing, she wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and hide. She was just about to cover her head with her hands when…

“And one more thing.”

Dong-gyeong straightened up, lowered his eyelids slightly, and spoke in a chilly voice.

“Don’t like me. You’re nothing more than my friend’s younger sister.”

At his merciless response, which left not even the slightest room for hope, Eun-yoo’s heart plummeted to the ground.

It felt as though every last drop of moisture had been drained from her body, making her feel like a real zombie.

She had been tricked by Seo Eun-yeop into coming all the way here, but her confession had been sincere…

I’m doomed. Completely doomed…

And in the worst possible way.

Perhaps this was only natural.

It had been the worst confession imaginable.

She had shown up looking like a hideous monster and humiliated him in front of so many people. Even if he rejected her a hundred times, she would have no grounds to complain.

And just like that, Eun-yoo’s unrequited love came to an empty end.

At the time, she had been so embarrassed that she had seriously considered moving away.

After all, continuing to run into each other in the same neighborhood would only make things uncomfortable for both of them.

But there was no longer any need for that.

Because after that day, Ha Dong-gyeong disappeared from her life completely.

Five years later.

Eun-yoo stepped into a noisy pub. After looking around the place, she strode toward the table where her friend Song-hee was sitting.

“Oh, look who’s here! What’s gotten into Seo Eun-yoo? Coming out for drinks this late at night?”

“Seo Eun-yeop is on a business trip right now. Today, I’m free. Completely free!”

Eun-yoo took off her jacket and scrunched up her nose.

Even though she was twenty-eight, Seo Eun-yeop couldn’t stand the sight of Eun-yoo staying out late at night.

Ever since their parents had moved to Yangchon-ri to take up farming, his nagging had only gotten worse.

He kept interfering in everything she did, coming up with all sorts of excuses and insisting that he was her guardian now that their father was no longer around. Because of him, she couldn’t even enjoy a late-night drinking session with her friends.

“All right! Let’s drink until we drop tonight!”

At Song-hee’s words, Eun-yoo filled her glass to the brim.

The truth was, she had been craving a drink tonight.

Rumors had been circulating that the company she worked for might be put up for sale due to its worsening financial situation.

Coffee Moment, a small- to medium-sized company with around fifty employees, was a relatively well-known coffee brand in South Korea. However, after its failed attempt to enter the Chinese market, the company had been struggling financially.

Having finally secured a precious job after submitting more than a hundred applications, Eun-yoo couldn’t bear the thought of losing it. Every time she poured another glass of soju, a heavy sigh escaped her lips.

As they continued clinking their glasses without pause, a familiar voice suddenly reached her ears.

She casually glanced up and saw a teaser for a movie starring Ha Dong-gyeong playing on the television mounted inside the pub.

Song-hee kept her eyes fixed on the screen and spoke indifferently.

“Hmm, don’t you think this movie is going to flop? I heard the production budget was a whopping 100 billion won.”

“Well, his movies have been doing incredibly well until now. Every single one of them has attracted more than ten million viewers.”

“Exactly. Actually, Ha Dong-gyeong isn’t exactly an actor whose performance gives you goosebumps or anything, but there’s something strangely captivating about him the more you watch. It’s like he hypnotizes the audience.”

“I was once captivated by that charm, too. Like an idiot.”

Eun-yoo lowered her eyelids and smiled bitterly. Song-hee raised her eyebrows.

“Hey, honestly, who do you think deserves the most credit for Ha Dong-gyeong’s success? I think you, Seo Eun-yoo, deserve the biggest share.”

“……”

Eun-yoo neither agreed nor denied it.

‘The Zombie Bride’s Confession.’

It was true that the video from that day had turned him into a top star.

Five years ago, a video of Eun-yoo’s confession, secretly recorded by someone, had spread rapidly across YouTube. The fifty-second short video became a worldwide sensation, coinciding with the popularity of K-zombie content at the time.

Thanks to the video, Dong-gyeong became famous and was even cast as the lead in a romantic comedy about the love between a zombie and a human.

Perhaps he had been destined to become an actor from the very beginning.

His first leading-role film became a massive hit, turning him into one of South Korea’s most prominent actors. He even went on to make his Hollywood debut.

Come to think of it, life was truly strange.

A painful memory that was horrifying for one person to even think about could become a dazzling opportunity for someone else.

Song-hee, who knew the history between the two of them, refilled Eun-yoo’s empty glass and added,

“But seriously, how could he not contact you even once? You two used to be so close.”

Eun-yoo answered with vacant eyes.

“Maybe he just wants to forget everything. Things from the past, I mean.”

It seemed that people changed once they became stars.

Just as Song-hee had said, ever since becoming an actor, Dong-gyeong hadn’t contacted either Eun-yoo or Eun-yeop even once.

Even in this situation, Eun-yeop continued to take Dong-gyeong’s side.

“He might have his reasons if he’s busy. It seems like he’s been filming in the States all this time, so he probably hasn’t been able to visit Korea very often.”

Still, that was no excuse.

No matter how busy someone was, shouldn’t they at least look after their own family?

It was one thing if he didn’t care about Eun-yeop and her, since they weren’t family anyway. But she simply couldn’t understand how he could neglect the grandmother who had raised him.

The old woman who lived across the street had lovingly raised Dong-gyeong from childhood, taking the place of his parents, who had passed away.

However, ever since becoming an actor, Dong-gyeong rarely visited home, always using his busy schedule as an excuse.

In the end, his paternal grandmother spent the remainder of her life in loneliness before passing away from a cerebral hemorrhage.

The death of the grandmother, who had always been especially affectionate toward Eun-yoo, came as a tremendous shock to her as well.

Dong-gyeong, who hadn’t even been there to see his grandmother take her final breath, only showed up at the funeral after it was already too late.

Watching him stand there absentmindedly without shedding a single tear, Eun-yoo couldn’t hold back her resentment.

“Why… Why did you only come now…? Grandma waited so long for you… How could you… How could you be so heartless?!”

“……”

But he acted as though he hadn’t heard her.

With an expression devoid of emotion, he simply stood at the chief mourner’s seat.

His shameless attitude completely erased even the little affection Eun-yoo had left for him.

One drink, then another. Whenever Ha Dong-gyeong came up in conversation, the alcohol seemed to go down all too easily.

Just as she was refilling her glass, Song-hee, who had been looking at her phone, widened her eyes so much they looked ready to pop out.

“Oh my goodness! Hey! This is huge! Ha Dong-gyeong is retiring!”

“What?!”

“Look at this!”

Startled, Eun-yoo quickly took the phone from her and played the video.

The footage showed Ha Dong-gyeong holding a press conference.

“What is the reason behind your decision to retire from the entertainment industry?”

Dong-gyeong slowly ran his fingers along the tip of his chin in response to the reporter’s question before smoothly lifting the corners of his lips.

“I’m no longer interested in acting.”

Hah.

Eun-yoo, who had been watching the video with her brows tightly furrowed, clicked her tongue.

It was unbelievable. His reason for suddenly retiring was simply that he no longer found acting interesting…

What an arrogant answer.

How could he even manage to be so infuriating while announcing his retirement?

He had once been so obsessed with acting that he neglected even his grandmother. And now, all of a sudden, he was giving everything up.

No matter how much people changed, surely that was taking things too far.

Eun-yoo wondered if he had always been this selfish and unpredictable.

Frowning, she put down the phone with a sharp tap and said,

“Whatever. Whether he retires or not, what does that have to do with me?”

After all, he was someone she would never have to see again.

Eun-yoo had fallen asleep while having a second round of drinks at Song-hee’s house. She didn’t wake up until nine the following morning.

It was her first time spending the night away from home since becoming an adult.

Fortunately, Seo Eun-yeop was away on a business trip. Otherwise, she would have had to endure enough nagging to make her ears bleed.

Just imagining it made Eun-yoo shudder. She left Song-hee’s house, hailed a taxi, and headed home.

A little while later, she got out of the taxi and was about to enter her house when…

Bang! Bang!

A loud noise came from the house across the street.

She glanced over and saw workers in overalls replacing the old, deteriorating water pipes in the front yard.

Huh? Did someone finally buy it?!

The house had been left abandoned for two years after the grandmother’s death. It seemed it had finally found a new owner.

Thinking that she should properly introduce herself the next time she met the new homeowner, Eun-yoo went inside.

As she took off her shoes at the entrance, a large pair of men’s shoes suddenly caught her eye.

At the same time, Eun-yoo’s eyes widened.

Huh? He’s already back?!

She had been certain that Seo Eun-yeop wouldn’t return until this evening, but apparently, he had come back from his business trip much earlier than expected.

Oh, what should I do?!

First, she needed to check what Eun-yeop was up to.

Just as she held her breath and tiptoed toward the living room…

“……!”

Her eyes met Eun-yeop’s.

He was sprawled out on the sofa, wearing an enormous LED face mask that completely covered his face.