Chapter 2: My Second Act, My Rules

My Second Act, My Rules

.

It was the latest work from writer Choi Yoon-hee, a guaranteed ratings powerhouse. This was a ‘makjang’ drama of the highest order, starring the exceptionally rare Alpha and Omega genders.

The drama effortlessly surpassed 40% in viewership, turning every actor, from lead roles to supporting cast, into a household name.

At its core, the plot was no different from any other romance drama: the love story between Han Jung-woo, a third-generation chaebol and Alpha, and Jung Hee-soo, a humble Omega who ran a flower shop.

What truly propelled the drama into ‘makjang’ territory was the secondary lead, Yoo Seo-jin. He harbored an abnormal obsession with Han Jung-woo, all for the sake of his own towering ambition.

He resorted to every conceivable tactic to keep Han Jung-woo by his side. Not only did he exploit his Omega status to attempt to conceive Han Jung-woo’s child, but he also extended his malicious reach to the innocent Jung Hee-soo.

Despite all his efforts, when Han Jung-woo ultimately chose Jung Hee-soo over him, Yoo Seo-jin spiraled into madness. He then meticulously devised a plan to murder Jung Hee-soo.

However, as is often the case, the protagonist’s extraordinary precognitive abilities foiled his scheme. Yoo Seo-jin met the tragic, bitter end befitting a true villain.

One by one, his accumulated misdeeds came to light, resulting in a sentence of life imprisonment. Unable to reconcile with his new reality, he tragically ended his life within the confines of his prison cell.

Indeed, that was the grim fate of Yoo Seo-jin—the very character into whom I had now transmigrated.

“F*** me…”

Despite being aware of the bustling street, I simply couldn’t suppress the expletive that escaped my lips. This was precisely the kind of moment for which such words existed; there could be no more perfect timing.

‘This must be a dream, right?’

Yes, a massive accident had occurred just before I lost consciousness, so this had to be a dream. I recalled the advice to check if I could feel any pain in such situations.

“Ouch.”

Just to be sure, I pinched my cheek, and a sharp, undeniable pain immediately flared. This meant it was reality, not a dream, I remembered. My despair only intensified.

‘What do I do now?’

Temporarily pushing aside my profound despair, I leaned deeply into the park bench and gazed up at the utterly black, empty sky.

My mind then raced back to the events of the past hour, which had unfolded with bewildering speed.

Even amidst my disorientation, I instinctively understood that I needed to distance myself from Han Jung-woo. I pushed him away and promptly fled the hotel.

The first place I instinctively headed was the house where I, Yoo Joon-hee, had originally lived.

However, a complete stranger resided there.

“If you keep knocking on that door, I’ll call the police!”

The homeowner’s chilling threat forced me onto the street, fleeing as if I were a criminal, with no time to process the shock. It felt as though I had been robbed right before my very eyes.

It was my house, yet why was it no longer mine?

Having lost my home in an instant, I emerged onto the street, indiscriminately stopping strangers to ask if they knew the actress Yoo Joon-hee.

“Who’s that?”

“I’ve never heard that name before. Are they a rookie?”

“I haven’t heard of anyone by that name.”

Yet, not a single person recognized me. As an actress specializing in villainous roles, one would think my name might ring a bell.

Even if not, my story had been plastered across every conceivable media outlet for the past month. Unless someone was living entirely cut off from civilization, there was no way they wouldn’t know me.

‘Have I truly become Yoo Seo-jin?’

I had seen countless dramas and films where protagonists traveled back in time, but I had never encountered a story where someone *became* the character they had portrayed.

And of all characters, it had to be the most vicious villain I’d ever played, one destined for a truly terrible end.

It felt as though I was being told that even if I were granted a fresh start, I could never be the protagonist. The absurdity of it all left me utterly dumbfounded.

My stomach rumbled.

“Oh, come on, don’t ruin the mood…!”

While my mind was a tangled mess of confusion, my stomach sent a starkly honest signal. In my embarrassment, I rummaged through my pockets, only to realize I had brought absolutely nothing from my hasty escape from the hotel.

Only then did I truly grasp my wretched state. I was freezing without a coat, my toes were icy in the flimsy hotel slippers, I had nowhere to go, and my stomach gnawed with hunger.

It was, quite literally, one misfortune piled upon another.

‘Nothing is going right.’

No matter how shocked I was, I should have at least gathered my belongings, but I had been utterly flustered. In the original storyline, I would have spent the night with Han Jung-woo at the hotel, yet I hadn’t.

‘…The sun’s rising.’

Before I knew it, the chaotic night had given way to the soft, bluish hues of approaching dawn. I longed to burrow under a warm blanket and rest, but with nowhere to lay my head, the situation felt utterly bleak.

Returning to the hotel was an option, but that would mean facing Han Jung-woo, who was likely still in the room.

Under those circumstances, I’d rather sleep on the streets.

“…Would that not work?”

The moment I tentatively placed my hand on the bench, a bone-chilling cold instantly seeped into my skin. Of all times, it was winter—a perfect season to catch a terrible cold or even facial paralysis if I slept outside.

‘Let’s go somewhere.’

Rising from the bench, I began walking in the opposite direction from the hotel. Whatever the outcome, moving felt inherently better than remaining stagnant.

If this truly was the world of , then even if no one knew Yoo Joon-hee, surely someone would recognize Yoo Seo-jin.

Having no money for a bus, I walked, steadily moving away from the city center. The residential area in the pre-dawn hours, with its sparse streetlights, was incredibly quiet, almost eerily so.

As I headed towards a place that existed only in my hazy memory, my mind was flooded with thoughts of ‘no way.’ Yet, at this moment, I had no choice but to gamble on even the most improbable possibility.

According to the drama’s 설정, Yoo Seo-jin’s house was located in what was colloquially known as the ‘rich neighborhood.’ He, like the protagonist Han Jung-woo, was the son of a well-off family, but the complication lay in the fact that he was the child of the second wife.

While his parents showered him with unconditional love, Yoo Seo-jin was a man who constantly yearned for more, for a higher position.

Driven by an insatiable desire to possess whatever he coveted, Yoo Seo-jin had chosen Han Jung-woo as the means to fulfill his ambitions.

He had sought to possess Han Jung-woo, hoping to gain the power to usurp his elder brother, but it hadn’t gone according to his plan. As I walked down the familiar alley, forgotten details of the drama’s plot began to resurface, one after another.

‘It’s around… here.’

Ascending the steep, hill-like alley, I spotted a house with a wall significantly taller than its neighbors. When I discovered the nameplate ‘Yoo Hae-jung’ beside the main gate, I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“It really is here.”

I had doubted it, but this truly was Yoo Seo-jin’s house. The name ‘Yoo Hae-jung’ inscribed on the nameplate belonged to Yoo Seo-jin’s father, after all.

‘Calm down.’

Stopping my laughter, I raised both hands and deeply ran them down my face. I knew it was utterly preposterous, but I had to accept it now: this was indeed the world of .

For reasons I couldn’t fathom, I had become Yoo Seo-jin, the very character I had once portrayed. But whether this was reality or not, the immediate concern was the biting cold; I simply couldn’t remain outside any longer.

The primal instinct for rest pushed all uncertainties to the back of my mind, to be dealt with later.

“Calm down. I am Yoo Seo-jin now.”

Composing my expression calmly, as if performing for a camera, I approached Yoo Seo-jin’s house.

I cast a quick glance at the CCTV camera mounted beside the main gate, then pressed the doorbell without a moment’s hesitation.

Ding-dong.

The clear chime of the doorbell echoed through the hushed alley. Perhaps it was due to the early hour, but the silence beyond the gate remained unbroken. Just as I prepared to press the doorbell once more, I heard footsteps approaching from within.

Uncertain of who might appear, I mentally braced myself to avoid any outward surprise. In that moment, the heavy gate swung open, and someone stepped out. The person who emerged frowned upon seeing me standing there.

“Seo-jin, do you have any idea what time it is?”

“……!!”

I nearly bowed a full ninety degrees to greet her. The person who had emerged from Yoo Seo-jin’s house was none other than Ms. Jin Mi-hee, the actress who had played Yoo Seo-jin’s mother in .

I had suspected it, but it seemed the actors who had portrayed roles in the drama were, in fact, still those characters. Just as I was now Yoo Seo-jin and Seon Woo-jung was Han Jung-woo, it appeared other actors were also living out the lives of their assigned roles.

“Yoo Seo-jin.”

“Ah, yes, Mother.”

At my awkward address, Yoo Seo-jin’s mother, who bore an uncanny resemblance to Ms. Jin Mi-hee, arched an eyebrow askew. Only then did I recall the character’s trait: Yoo Seo-jin used informal speech with his parents, not honorifics.

If one were to describe Yoo Seo-jin in a single line, ‘the spoiled youngest son of a wealthy family’ would be perfectly apt. He was so utterly different from me, who had long since been forced to mature; he was a pampered child, and I vividly recalled how challenging it had been to portray him.

“Sorry, Mom.”

I had always been more confident in my acting than anyone, but now, perhaps due to this utterly unbelievable reality, even maintaining a neutral expression felt arduous. She stared at my awkward smile for a moment before letting out a deep sigh.

“I wasn’t asking for anything difficult, was I? All you had to do was be a little more careful, so why do you constantly try to catch your father’s attention like this?”

Something must have happened, though too much time had passed for me to recall the specific details. Nevertheless, judging by the atmosphere, I knew I needed to console her upset mother right now.

“Sorry.”

Hearing my somewhat dazed apology, she adjusted the shawl draped over her shoulders. Her gaze, filled with disapproval, swept over my utterly disheveled appearance before she let out another deep sigh and stepped closer to me.

“Come in, dear. You’ll catch a cold.”

Her voice laden with concern, she called out to me and gently wrapped her arm around my shoulder. Thanks to her small, warm hand, my body, chilled from wandering all night, seemed to melt.