Chapter 3

“So CEO Choi Hwaja runs Hwaja Entertainment, and she’s also producing this drama?”

Seeing how specifically interested Sui was, Lee Hwan-soo curled his lips into an amused smile.

“She’s the biggest investor. So Hwaja Entertainment will probably have a lot of say in the casting, too. But why are you so interested in this drama all of a sudden, Yuna? You never used to pay attention to things like this.”

Before Sui could answer Lee Hwan-soo’s question, she slapped her knee as an idea struck her.

This could be an opportunity.

“Yuna, you need my permission for this. And I’m not giving it to you. You’re about to start filming the movie, so there’s no need to waste time on something this ridiculous. Besides… you know you can’t act, don’t you?”

Yuna had been in the entertainment industry for ten years, and yet he was saying she couldn’t act?

And judging by his attitude, Lee Hwan-soo seemed convinced that Yuna would renew her contract despite the fact that it was about to expire.

Do I look like I’m going to sign another lousy contract like this? As long as I’m here, there’s absolutely no chance of renewing it!

“I’m taking a few days off, so you can keep that in mind.”

At Sui’s firm declaration, both Lee Hwan-soo and Jin-sook stared at her in shock.

“You have three scheduled engagements today alone! What do you mean you’re taking time off?”

“Hey! Im Yuna! Have you gone crazy?”

The longer they kept Yuna working, the more money they could squeeze out of her. Naturally, the idea of her taking a break must have come as a devastating blow.

But Sui couldn’t let them push her around anymore.

“I was discharged from the hospital today. If I keep pushing my body like this and get sick again, who’s going to suffer the losses? I’m leaving.”

Without paying the slightest attention to their reactions, Sui immediately walked out of the office.

Jin-sook and Lee Hwan-soo glared at the door through which Yuna had disappeared.

“C-CEO Lee! Something’s wrong with that girl! She even talked back to me a few days ago! She used to be so timid she couldn’t say a word!”

“Please calm down, Madam.”

“What are you going to do about her? Aren’t you going to drag her back here right now?”

“She has no money, and her face is so well-known that she can’t even walk around outside freely. What can she possibly do? She’ll come crawling back before she starves to death.”

Hearing that, Jin-sook looked relieved and muttered, “Well, I suppose that’s true.”

“Then let’s start by meeting with the film director. I’ll contact them and ask them to revise the contract terms, Madam.”

Everyone is destined to die someday. And when that day comes, most people hope to die without too much suffering.

How did I die?

There had been a time when Sui had agonized deeply over her own death while wandering through the afterlife.

But no matter how much she thought about it or tried to recall the past, she couldn’t remember anything. It was as though the heavens had established a rule that she must never know, a forbidden truth she was never allowed to uncover.

Perhaps Hwaja knew something.

For various reasons, Sui absolutely had to meet her.

However…

Hwaja was no longer the Choi Hwaja who had once moped around in a tiny room with Sui.

She was now celebrated as one of the country’s greatest musical geniuses and had even opened her own top-tier entertainment company.

Her ego had undoubtedly grown enormous, too.

Knowing Choi Hwaja’s personality, that was only natural.

Besides, Sui wasn’t in her own body anymore. She was Im Yuna.

If she suddenly showed up in front of Choi Hwaja and acted like they were old friends, it would only be a matter of time before everyone decided Yuna was a lunatic.

There was only one way.

The drama Surviving Obsessively.

And getting into Hwaja Entertainment.

That way, Im Yuna could benefit from joining a good agency, while Sui could finally meet Choi Hwaja.

Wouldn’t that be a win-win situation?

But…

For several days, Sui had been loitering outside Hwaja Entertainment’s headquarters.

As expected, she hadn’t caught even a glimpse of Hwaja.

She had covered her face with a mask and sunglasses and camped out in front of the building. Eventually, security stopped her, and she was chased away from the premises along with several other students.

Haa… Starting life over really isn’t easy.

“But this woman kind of has the same vibe as Im Yuna, doesn’t she?”

A student standing beside Sui suddenly leaned toward her face and made the remark.

Don’t tell me I’ve been recognized?

Sui pulled her mask higher over her face and turned away.

Apparently, the students didn’t seriously think she was the real Im Yuna. Without showing any particular suspicion, they started chatting among themselves.

Naturally, the conversation turned to badmouthing Im Yuna.

“Hey, did you hear? There’s a rumor that Im Yuna is going to star in an adult movie.”

“Seriously? Is she that crazy about money? Her image is already ruined, and now she’s going completely off the rails?”

“Honestly, doesn’t her face look kind of old-fashioned, too? I don’t get why people keep praising her looks. And her voice! She acts all innocent and babyish. It’s so irritating.”

“She had all that plastic surgery, anyway. You can totally tell she had her eyes and nose done. If I got that much work done, I’d be prettier than her, too.”

“She can’t act, can’t sing, can’t dance, and her face looks like it’s been carved into shape. Now that none of that is working anymore, she’s resorting to selling her body!”

Ugh. They’re not even talking about me personally, and somehow this still makes me feel disgusted…

Sui jumped to her feet and glared at the students, muttering inwardly.

I guarantee Im Yuna’s face is completely natural, you idiots!

Her anger bubbled up from deep inside. For a moment, she nearly reverted to her old self and grabbed the students by their hair.

She needed to calm down. Maybe a cup of vending-machine coffee would help.

Sui walked to the vending machine behind the building and rummaged through her pockets.

Oh, right. Im Yuna doesn’t have any money, either.

She had been carefully rationing the only ten-thousand-won bill she had for several days. Now, all she had left was enough for transportation back to Yuna’s apartment.

Besides, a cup of instant coffee from the vending machine cost five hundred won.

I’ve been given a second life, so why is everything still so ridiculously miserable?

Just then, a long arm holding a crisp thousand-won bill suddenly extended beside her shoulder.

“W-What?”

For a moment, Sui was so startled that she nearly blurted out a colorful curse in Yuna’s innocent, delicate voice.

Following the straight, well-formed arm holding the bill, she slowly lifted her gaze.

A large man was standing right behind her.

“Get one for me, too.”

And he wasn’t just any man.

He was so incredibly handsome that Sui had never seen anyone like him in her entire life. Her mouth fell open, and she was practically spellbound.

Sui stared up at him blankly, twisting her neck so far that she nearly gave herself a crick.

He was so handsome she felt she could keep looking at him even if her neck turned a full 180 degrees.

His face didn’t seem to belong to this world.

Perhaps Sui’s dazed expression looked strange to him, because the man’s eyebrows moved ever so slightly.

“Are you not going to take it?”

His chilly voice snapped Sui out of her trance.

But why was he giving her a thousand won?

“Why… why are you giving this to me?”

“Didn’t you want something to drink? You were counting your coins and glaring at the vending machine.”

The phrase counting your coins seriously irritated Sui.

Somehow, that single remark made her already pathetic financial situation feel even more humiliating.

She looked the man up and down.

Judging by his appearance, he didn’t look like someone who would normally drink five-hundred-won vending-machine coffee.

He wore a neatly tailored suit that emphasized his physique. His hair was swept back, revealing a clean, handsome forehead.

Although he was speaking politely to Sui, the way he looked down at her suggested that he was accustomed to giving orders and being obeyed.

Sui was fairly good at reading people.

The look in his eyes as he gazed down at her, almost as though she were a beggar, was unmistakably condescending.

That was simply how Sui was: she could be endlessly fierce toward the strong but endlessly gentle toward the weak.

Did Yuna, who had been pushed around by everyone her whole life, really have to be treated like a beggar even by a complete stranger?

She still had her pride. What was so special about a lousy cup of coffee?

“If you don’t want it, forget it.”

“Excuse me.”

Sui called out to him in a solemn voice.

The man tilted his head slightly and looked at her.

“Are you getting two cups? Milk coffee?”

Forget being strong or weak. Right now, she wanted coffee far too badly to let pride get in the way.

The man’s neatly shaped eyebrows lifted slightly at her question. Then he gave a small nod and held out the thousand-won bill.

Sui snatched the money from his hand, immediately fed it into the vending machine, and selected two cups of milk coffee.

No matter how she looked at it, five hundred won for instant coffee was a sign that the world had gone completely mad.

Still, it was free, so she decided to let it slide.

“Vending-machine coffee really is best when it’s milk coffee.”

Looking thoroughly satisfied, Sui handed one of the steaming cups to the man while holding the other in her free hand.

The man obediently accepted it.

Having completed her mission, Sui sat down and took leisurely sips of the hot coffee, watching the steam rise from the cup.

Ahh… How long has it been since I last had coffee?

It was so heavenly that she almost felt dizzy.

But the man didn’t go on his way.

Instead, he stood directly in front of her, staring at her.

The weather was already chilly, and with a tall man blocking the sunlight right in front of her, Sui began to feel a little annoyed.

He didn’t look like the type, but was he really that upset about five hundred won?

There was another ten-thousand-won bill hidden at Yuna’s apartment. She had genuinely intended to save that money for emergencies.

“I’ll be here again tomorrow, you know? I’ll pay you back the five hundred won then, so move aside. You’re blocking the sunlight.”

“…You’re coming here again tomorrow?”

“Why? Am I not allowed to come back? Do you own this vending machine or something?”

The man’s hand settled on his hip as he stood at a slight angle, apparently dumbfounded by Sui’s attitude.

He didn’t look like someone who would fight tooth and nail over five hundred won, but he clearly had some reason for staying in front of her. He showed no intention of moving.

“Tell me. Why are you hanging around here?”

“Why should you care whether I’m hanging around or not? And will you move already? It’s cold!”

The man narrowed his eyes and spoke in a low voice.

“…Are you really the Im Yuna I used to know?”

Sui, who had been leisurely sipping her coffee, suddenly froze.

Oh… Does he know Yuna?

Considering that he had recognized her despite her mask and sunglasses, he probably knew her fairly well.

But Sui couldn’t recall anything about this man from Yuna’s hazy memories.

Whenever she came face-to-face with someone, she could usually get a vague sense of that person’s relationship with Yuna.

But this man?

There was absolutely nothing.

Not a single clue surfaced in her mind.

Unsure how to respond, Sui looked at him awkwardly. Then she decided to give him a vague answer and leave.

Loitering around Hwaja Entertainment wasn’t going to make Choi Hwaja magically appear in front of her. Besides, staying in one place too long when strange people kept showing up was unlikely to end well.

She decided she needed a different plan.

“Whatever. I’ll just get going.”

“Where are you going?”

“I have things to do.”

“You don’t look particularly busy.”

At the man’s immediate retort, Sui narrowed her eyes and glared at him.

The man smiled brightly.

“You’ve been hanging around in front of our company all this time. Let’s get straight to the point. Why are you standing around out here shivering? Do you have some business here?”

Does he work at Hwaja Entertainment?

He was asking even more questions than the security guards at the building, making it impossible for her to keep dodging the issue.

The man waited for her answer with an expression full of curiosity.

“W-Well, if I’m standing in front of Hwaja Entertainment, who else would I be here to see? I’m here to see CEO Choi Hwaja.”

“CEO Choi?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Do I have to tell you that, too?

Sui wanted to ask who he was, but since she had no idea what his relationship with the company was, she wasn’t sure whether she should.

“It’s not like you’re going to take me to see CEO Choi Hwaja, so why are you asking me so many questions?”

“What if I did take you to see her?”