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It had been a fairly successful life, by most measures.
From her days as a child actor, she had lived a relatively uneventful life, free from scandals, until she became known as the ‘Villain Specialist.’ It was then that she truly experienced her heyday.
While it was true that every role offered thereafter was that of a villain, she found contentment in simply being recognized as a capable actress.
However, her happiness was fleeting. A sudden, baseless rumor swiftly plunged her life into an abyss.
[Famed Actress Yoo Joon-hee Faces Expulsion from Entertainment Industry Amid Sponsorship Allegations.]
[Numerous Sightings at XX Hotel Confirm Rumors of Famed Actress Yoo Joon-hee’s Sponsorship.]
Despite refuting the absurd articles that saturated every major portal site and even holding a press conference, public opinion, once turned, proved stubbornly irreversible.
The descent was relentless. From exorbitant advertising penalties and an abrupt dismissal from a pre-filmed drama to her agency’s swift disavowal, the fall seemed to have no end.
Contrary to the comforting words of those who promised everything would improve with time, a month later, people continued to brand her as an actress who had secured roles through sordid means, relentlessly tearing down her reputation.
Even venturing outside became impossible. Journalists, lying in wait, would ambush her, aggressively thrusting cameras into her face and relentlessly snapping photos.
It was then, when she developed a camera phobia she’d never known before, that she finally abandoned all hope.
She would sleep like the dead, day or night, only to wake, drink herself into oblivion, and fall back into an intoxicated slumber.
As this reluctant existence dragged on, she, writhing in a torment of lethargy, impulsively drove her car out onto the streets.
The car tore through the empty streets, unchecked and unburdened. Engulfed in her own apathy, she only later registered that something was terribly wrong.
She frantically slammed on the brakes, her eyes fixed on the speedometer’s endlessly climbing numbers, but the malfunctioning car refused to respond.
Exceeding the speed limit by a dangerous margin, the car lost control and flipped.
When she regained consciousness, she was dying inside the overturned vehicle.
The deserted street in the pre-dawn hours was eerily silent. There was no one to save her as she slowly faded away.
Though she tried to cling to her rapidly fading consciousness, she instinctively knew that death had already arrived at her doorstep.
‘In dramas, they say your life flashes before your eyes just before death. Yet, perhaps because her recent life had been so filled with agony, she felt nothing but a strange sense of relief.’
Her ragged breaths gradually quieted, and her vision began to dim, slowly succumbing to an encroaching darkness.
****
‘Was this truly peace finally arriving?’ she wondered, on the verge of releasing the last, tenuous thread she desperately clung to.
“Unfrown.”
A disagreeable tap on her cheek made her eyes snap open.
Was she hallucinating? The overturned car was gone, vanished without a trace, and she found herself in a hotel room, bathed in dim light.
She had clearly been inside the car, yet not only had the location changed, but the excruciating pain that had made breathing a torment had vanished, her body restored to its complete, unharmed state.
‘Is this it then? A life review, perhaps, the kind people see before they die?’
“Yoo Seo-jin.”
At the sound of the summons, she lifted her head and looked forward. A man, his displeasure evident on his face as he stared at her, cocked a perfectly straight eyebrow askew.
She nearly called out his name in welcome. The man before her was, after all, the co-star she had filmed a drama with years ago.
Though he was now lauded with cringeworthy titles like ‘Nation’s Actor,’ back then, he had merely been a rising rookie.
“Why the long face? Smile. I told you I’d act exactly as you wish.”
‘Why is he reciting lines from a drama that ended ages ago?’ she wondered. ‘It’s as if he’s reverted to his old character. No, in fact, his acting seems to have improved since then.’
‘Well, of course, he would have improved after all this time. What else would you expect? He’s currently the highest-paid actor in the country, after all.’
“Yoo Seo-jin. Unfrown.”
The man tapped her cheek with his fingertip. This was strange. Her name was Yoo Joon-hee, so why did he keep calling her by her old character’s name?
‘And who is he to dictate her expression? If he wanted to reminisce and act out old memories, he could do it alone.’
“Stop joking around.”
“…Joking?”
“Are you nostalgic for an outdated drama? What kind of sudden performance is this—”
“What are you talking about?”
The man tilted his head, a bewildered expression on his face. ‘Had he immersed himself so deeply in acting that he’d lost his mind?’
There was no reason to play along with this absurd charade, so she turned her back on him, intending to leave the hotel. However, she hadn’t taken more than a few steps before she was grabbed.
“Who are you?”
“Seon Woo-jung, you’re the one who needs to stop acting—”
“Seon Woo-jung?”
The man reacted as if he’d never heard his own name before, a look of complete unfamiliarity on his face. ‘How deeply could one get lost in a role to forget their own name?’
Just as she was about to retort, utterly dumbfounded, her gaze abruptly fell upon a mirror mounted on the wall. In that instant, she was struck speechless.
Raven hair partially obscuring her forehead, skin so pale it was almost translucent, and lips a stark, contrasting crimson. The reflection staring back was undeniably her, yet it was utterly different from the image she knew.
It was the youthful face and dyed black hair she had worn years ago, precisely as she had appeared when taking on *this* particular role.
“Yoo Seo-jin.”
The man called her name again. Snapping back to reality, she scrutinized the man standing before her. Then, recalling her memories, she finally spoke the name of the character he had played at that time.
“Han Jung-woo?”
Only then did the man nod.
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