Lee Ye-seo didn’t hate Kang Chan-seong.
Nor did she want to kill him out of hatred.
It wasn’t even that Kang Chan-seong wanted to kill Lee Ye-seo out of suspicion.
It was simply because she was curious.
“You’d better give up. The thing about poison is, the more you move, the faster it spreads.”
Lee Ye-seo wanted to hurt Kang Chan-seong simply because she was curious about what it felt like to kill a police officer.
She was like a child who had found a new toy.
Or, like a mischievous kid wanting to crush an ant beneath their foot out of curiosity.
Though there was murderous intent in Lee Ye-seo’s flying punches toward Kang Chan-seong, there was no true malice.
Kang Chan-seong gritted his teeth and tried to fend off Lee Ye-seo’s attacks, but the poison slowly took hold, and it wasn’t long before he was completely subdued.
“Shh, good boy. Let’s just sleep peacefully...”
With Kang Chan-seong pinned beneath her, Lee Ye-seo surveyed his every reaction with curiosity.
To Lee Ye-seo, Kang Chan-seong was a delicacy she had never tasted before.
She picked up the dagger from the floor and aimed it at Kang Chan-seong’s chest.
She stared into his eyes, determined to clearly witness the moment he would breathe his last.
The tip of Lee Ye-seo’s dagger began to gently pierce Kang Chan-seong’s chest.
Kang Chan-seong’s face contorted in pain.
Yet Lee Ye-seo’s face still wore that serene smile.
She lowered her head near his ear and whispered, urging him to share what he was feeling.
“Is it cold? Does it hurt? Does it sting? Tell me, huh?”
Just as Kang Chan-seong’s breath began to slow, a knock echoed from the other side of the door.
It was followed by the voice of the supporting actor announcing the end of the scene for S#130 Office.
Lee Ye-seo’s hollow, unblinking eyes reflected no emotion.
In stark contrast, her lips curled slightly into a smile.
Her head tilted ever so slightly, but this time, the figure crushing Kang Chan-seong didn’t feel human.
Despite the excitement in her voice, her demeanor was unsettlingly calm.
To put it simply, it was grotesque.
Even as Lee Ye-seo raised her fist to knock Kang Chan-seong unconscious, the thought that she might not be entirely sane never left.
Even as she stood above him, her long hair cascading as she caught her breath, she seemed entirely composed.
Another knock came, and Lee Ye-seo slowly lifted her head, her face blank.
The smile that formed on her face afterward seemed so out of place.
A youthful smile, with soft eye crinkles, appeared.
She looked so innocent, it was hard to believe she had just tried to kill someone.
This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.
Her sharp eyes blinked as her head tilted, almost identical to the one Kang Chan-seong had seen before.
But now, she was a different person, no longer focused solely on harming Kang Chan-seong.
“Hm, are you protesting? Why?”
“Ah, it’s about the compensation for the incident at the Yuksung building. It felt too little...”
“Ah, so you think the compensation was too small.”
Her expression and voice carried an ease that seemed entirely out of place.
It was almost as if she were someone completely different from before.
“Well, this wasn’t a scheduled protest. I’ll just call the police and have them handle it.”
“No, don’t bother calling the police. Just send them up to me. They’re in such a hurry they can’t even afford a meal.”
Her gaze, now curved like a gentle arc, marked the end of the scene.
The shooting for S#130 Office wrapped up.
***
“What should we do, Ha-eun? I think I have a mark on my neck.”
“...What? Really?”
“Look closely. Doesn’t it look red and swollen here?”
Ha-eun hurriedly turned her gaze toward Yoon Si-hyuk’s neck.
The unease from earlier was nowhere to be found, replaced by eyes that trembled like a vibrating bell. Yoon Si-hyuk couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.
“It’s a joke.”
“...............”
Ha-eun’s gaze quickly turned cold.
Her lips, slightly pursed, showed her frustration.
Realizing she’d been tricked, Ha-eun immediately turned her back on Yoon Si-hyuk, taking several steps away from him.
Yoon Si-hyuk, now feeling apologetic, extended a paper cup with coffee inside as a peace offering.
“Your expression was so scary, Ha-eun. I just had to joke around a bit.”
“...There are limits to joking around...”
“Sorry. Still, this is the Ha-eun I know.”
Yoon Si-hyuk then asked about Ha-eun’s wrist, saying he may have held it too tightly during the scene in S#130 Office.
“Did it hurt? I realized it too late.”
“...? When?”
“You know, when I threw you to the ground and whispered in your ear.”
Ha-eun paused to think, retracing her memory.
However, no matter how much she thought, she couldn’t recall anything about it.
“...Was that when you used force?”
“Ugh.”
During the filming of S#130 Office, Ha-eun hadn’t felt any strength in Yoon Si-hyuk’s arm.
When she spoke honestly, Yoon Si-hyuk showed a slightly disheartened expression.
“...I’ve been working out, you know... I have a bit of a six-pack...”
Looks like that didn’t impress Ha-eun.
With a sheepish laugh, Yoon Si-hyuk looked down at Ha-eun’s arm.
‘It’s not very noticeable on the outside. Is this what real muscle compression looks like?’
Of course, he didn’t voice his thoughts aloud.
Even Ha-eun could be offended if he started talking about muscles.
‘If someone like her gets angry, it’s actually terrifying.’
Maybe it was because she was someone who could be terrifying not just by her demeanor but physically as well.
Yoon Si-hyuk quickly shifted his gaze away.
Soon after, preparations began for the filming of S#131 Agreement.
The child actor who would join the scene had just arrived, so Ha-eun headed over to greet him in advance.
Part of it was simply that she wanted to get along, but the biggest reason was the atmosphere of S#131.
‘It might be scary for a 9-year-old.’
After seeing how Kim Min-seong, the young actor from The Sunshine set, had struggled, Ha-eun made extra efforts to be mindful of child actors during their scenes.
She calmly greeted the child actor and his mother, making sure to express her gratitude.
“I’ll gently pat our Gyu-jae’s head in a little while. Don’t worry, I won’t hit him. Just stay still.”
“...Okay!”
“You’re such a good kid. I’ll see you soon.”
But right after, Ha-eun’s demeanor shifted back to that of Lee Ye-seo.
Yoon Si-hyuk, taken aback by the dramatic change, looked down at Ha-eun with a quiet gaze.
‘Anyone who sees her would think she has split personalities.’
The shift in her emotions was so extreme, it felt like flipping a light switch—turning it off and on again.
In any case, Yoon Si-hyuk decided that since his character, Kang Chan-seong, wouldn’t appear in S#131 Agreement, he would just observe from a distance without facing Ha-eun’s emotionless stare.
Once the actors were in position, the filming began.
“...Let’s begin. Action!”
The filming of S#131 Agreement commenced.
“Ah, welcome. This is Director Lee Ye-seo.”
The scene started with Lee Ye-seo welcoming a guest in the now neat office.
Just moments ago, Seo Jun-hyeok, a worker protesting outside the company building, hesitantly sized up Lee Ye-seo, taken aback by her unexpected warm welcome.
But Seo Jun-hyeok’s son, Seo Min-woo, was also seated on the guest sofa.
“Director, my son is about to enter elementary school, but... two hundred isn’t enough to live on.”
Seo Jun-hyeok was desperate to increase his compensation for the sake of his son.
Having been partially crippled in a work accident, the only recourse left for him was the company’s compensation.
Now unable to work as a laborer in the construction field, he had no other place to turn for his family’s livelihood.
However...
“Well then, let me ask you a simple question.”
Lee Ye-seo placed three 10-million-won checks on the table.
“If you want to help your cute son, how far are you willing to go, Mr. Seo?”
Rather than showing understanding for Seo Jun-hyeok’s situation, Lee Ye-seo had one of her burly bodyguards and a small knife in hand, prompting him to fulfill her curiosity or satisfy her amusement.
Seo Jun-hyeok was taken aback, confused and astonished.
But when the tiny knife Lee Ye-seo held was pressed toward the bodyguard, it became clear that Seo Jun-hyeok would either comply or face a lawsuit for obstruction of business.
“It’s simple, Mr. Seo. Just close your eyes and stab once, and you’ll get 3,000,000. The other side’s just empty-handed.”
With trembling hands, Seo Jun-hyeok stood up and aimed the knife at the bodyguard.
At the same moment, the bodyguard swiftly tackled Seo Jun-hyeok to the ground.
“Agh, ah!”
“Ah, Dad!!”
Seo Min-woo, unable to understand what was happening, ran to his father, but Lee Ye-seo gently held him back.
“Hmm, Min-woo. Your dad’s working right now. Don’t disturb him.”
As she softly ruffled his hair and whispered in a calm voice, Seo Min-woo could only watch helplessly as his father was brutally beaten.
But at that moment, as the terrifying scene of people hurting each other unfolded before him, Seo Min-woo turned his head in fear.
“...Want some candy?”
It was the same smile she had given him just minutes ago, but it felt eerily different.
Perhaps that was why.
“Ugh, ugh... Waaaah!!”
Overcome by the strange, doll-like smile, Seo Min-woo burst into tears.
The surrounding actors were startled by the outburst.
“Gyu-jae?”
As expected, Ha-eun quickly rushed over to calm the child actor, Gyu-jae.
But despite her efforts, his sobbing showed no signs of stopping, and the filming came to an abrupt halt.
To put it bluntly, this was a highly uncomfortable situation.
Seo Min-woo’s distress highlighted just how chilling Lee Ye-seo’s psychopathic nature was.
In the past, children like Seo Min-woo were never meant to be touched.
In a sense, he served as a device to illustrate how evil Lee Ye-seo truly was.
For Ha-eun, she had no choice but to capture the scene with Gyu-jae on camera.
There was never room for compromise in acting, even now.
She made her way to Gyu-jae, who was with his mother in the waiting room.
“Sorry, Gyu-jae. I must have scared you.”
After receiving his mother’s permission, Ha-eun carefully patted Gyu-jae’s head, trying to calm him down.
Despite her efforts, his fearful gaze remained, and the crying didn’t cease.
Finally, Ha-eun came up with one last solution.
“Does Gyu-jae like candy?”
“Yes, yes. He loves it.”
“Well then, Gyu-jae...”
“C-Candy?”
“Yep! I have lots of sweet candy in my bag! Oh, and there’s chocolate too─!”
Ha-eun’s voice was completely different from Lee Ye-seo’s.
Outside the waiting room, Yoon Si-hyuk was struggling to contain his laughter, though he didn’t know that yet.