Pyo Jiwoo was Min Seo-ho’s current stalker. Driven by the sole determination to get close to him, she prepared for an acting career for a year. Not only did she successfully debut, but she also managed to perform in the same play as him.

A testament to the extraordinary dedication of a rookie with immense talent, she even managed to infiltrate Min Seo-ho’s team in the play “Eyes Closed.” And what’s more? Through her aggressive advances, she finally secured the position of his girlfriend.

It was a tear-jerking success story of a stalker.

However, the real problem began afterward.

It all started when Min Seo-ho’s complicated relationships with multiple women were revealed.

‘The number of women Min Seo-ho is currently dating is five.’

This was the epitome of juggling multiple relationships. It was almost like having a girlfriend for each day of the week.

And to top it all off, he practically lived in clubs during his spare time with friends.

Jiwoo knew he frequented clubs but never imagined he had such an intricate web of relationships.

The result, as previously mentioned, culminated in the “Swordmaster Ending.”

“...You’re here?”

“Y-yeah.”

Regardless of who stabbed whom, Jiwoo did stab someone, and it was true.

Naturally, I couldn’t help but be a little cautious.

I glanced Jiwoo up and down discreetly.

I was worried she might have brought a weapon.

‘Fortunately, nothing seems suspicious.’

Come to think of it, Jiwoo didn’t even carry a bag.

She usually wore jeans and a plain shirt.

In truth, her style was more masculine than feminine.

“Why are you wearing a school uniform?”

“I came here right after school.”

What an obvious question.

I’m currently a high school student, so it’s only natural for me to be in uniform.

‘...Aside from the fact that I have limited clothing options at home.’

My mother’s hobby is enhancing my appearance.

Basic skincare is a given.

Naturally, she pays a lot of attention to my clothing as well.

Thus, my wardrobe is filled with colorful clothes I didn’t choose.

As a result, the most neutral outfit I can wear is my school uniform.

Joo Seoyeon, 17 years old, is still at an age where I wear clothes my parents pick out for me...

“I’ve always wondered about something.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know that you always look at me with an uncomfortable gaze?”

“You’re mistaken.”

In any case, I walked about a meter away from Jiwoo.

It was a distance where I could react to anything that might happen.

Hearing my response, Jiwoo surveyed the surroundings with her characteristic sinister expression.

“And why here of all places? It doesn’t seem like a place you would come to...”

“Well.”

I considered explaining in more detail, but then shook my head.

Showing her directly would make it clearer.

If I explained verbally, she might accuse me of slander and lash out.

“Let’s go for now.”

We were currently in an entertainment district in Gangnam.

It was a place frequently visited by our lead actor, Min Seo-ho.

Jiwoo frowned as she watched Seoyeon walking ahead.

Long, black hair.

With hardly any expression changes, her face was as beautiful as a doll’s.

‘To think she came here wearing a school uniform.’

As Seoyeon strolled through Gangnam’s entertainment district at this hour, she naturally drew attention.

It was currently 10:30 p.m.

A high school girl walking around in a nightlife area at this time was bound to attract attention.

With looks transitioning from a girl to a young woman.

Seeing Seoyeon’s stunning beauty, men couldn’t help but follow her with their eyes.

A born aura.

Was this what it meant to be a natural-born actor?

Jiwoo wasn’t someone who would fall short in terms of appearance either.

That’s why she was in the acting business.

Although there’s a demand for actors with unique looks, ultimately, being good-looking is always a plus.

While unattractiveness can be masked with makeup, the reverse is usually impossible.

In that sense, Seoyeon was a daunting opponent for Jiwoo.

She was someone who triggered Jiwoo’s inferiority complex.

Although Seoyeon herself seemed to have an aversion to Jiwoo, Jiwoo was also not comfortable with her.

That’s why Jiwoo was rather curious why Seoyeon had called her here.

‘Somehow.’

An uneasy feeling.

With such thoughts, Jiwoo followed Seoyeon.

“Shh.”

Seoyeon gestured for her to wait for a moment.

“Come this way.”

Seoyeon led them into an alley near a club.

Given the line to get in, it seemed like a fairly popular spot.

‘Why such a place?’

While pondering this question, Jiwoo waited silently.

Feeling her heart pounding anxiously.

And then, to confirm that anxiety, a group appeared.

Two men and three women.

They seemed to recognize the club’s bouncers, even greeting them with a wave.

Initially, she didn’t recognize him.

He wasn’t wearing his usual attire, and his face was covered with a black mask.

“...!!”

However, when the man lowered his mask to greet the bouncers, Jiwoo clamped both hands over her mouth.

It was none other than Min Seo-ho.

He had his arm around a woman’s waist, smiling.

Moreover, another woman was clinging to him.

It was clearly not an ordinary relationship.

Click.

The sound of a camera shutter pulled Jiwoo out of her blank state.

Turning her head, she saw Seoyeon taking pictures of Min Seo-ho.

“Y-you, did you know?”

“Yes.”

“H-how?”

Jiwoo knew almost everything about Min Seo-ho’s life patterns.

How did Seoyeon know about Min Seo-ho’s secret life, something even Jiwoo didn’t know?

“Umm, coincidence?”

I couldn’t exactly tell her it was because of my previous life.

How could I explain that this club was a regular haunt for Min Seo-ho and the scene of Jiwoo’s rampage?

“You, you, you...!”

A moment of daze later, Jiwoo dashed out of the alley.

Or rather, she tried to.

Had Seoyeon not grabbed Jiwoo by the waist and pulled her back, that is.

‘What is this strength?!’

She had felt it before, but no matter how much she tried to break free, it didn’t budge.

Ultimately, Jiwoo gave up and screamed.

“Why did you show me something like this?! Why are you doing this to me!”

She wished she hadn’t known.

Tears started flowing involuntarily.

She saw Min Seo-ho heading into the club.

She wanted to direct her anger at Seoyeon.

But the grip on her waist was too strong to protest.

She felt like Seoyeon could fling her into the air with a single toss.

So Jiwoo had no choice but to speak defiantly.

“Why, why are you doing this to me.”

Thus, Jiwoo felt the tears streaming down her face once again.

She silently watched Min Seo-ho enter the club.

Seoyeon let out a low sigh.

“Your objective was to pursue actor Min Seo-ho, right?”

“S-so what if it was?”

“It’s not bad, but do you still think that after seeing this?”

“...”

Seoyeon seemed to be saying,

‘If you find out later when things work out, do you think you’ll just let it go?’

Moreover, Jiwoo had become an actress because of Min Seo-ho.

If she didn’t know, she would have wasted her time aimlessly.

At the very least, her acting career shouldn’t be centered around Min Seo-ho.

‘Not to mention that incident.’

Honestly, if it weren’t for the Swordmaster incident, I wouldn’t have gone to such lengths.

This wasn’t for Min Seo-ho.

It was solely for the talented actress, Pyo Jiwoo.

“Boohoo!”

As Jiwoo cried out in a wail.

“Excuse me.”

A large man approached them.

He alternated his gaze between Jiwoo, who was crying, and Seoyeon, who was holding a smartphone, and then spoke.

“Young lady, I saw you taking pictures earlier. Let me see your phone for a moment.”

Hearing the man’s words, Seoyeon quickly surveyed her surroundings.

There wasn’t much attention focused on them yet.

It seemed that the bouncer was on standby since incidents like this were frequent in the area.

“Jiwoo unnie.”

“U-unnie?”

“When I give the signal, run.”

Signal? What’s she talking about?

With such thoughts, the club’s bouncer approached with brisk steps.

When he saw Seoyeon’s appearance, he widened his eyes in surprise.

‘Is she a celebrity?’

Her appearance was enough to evoke such thoughts.

If she hadn’t been wearing a school uniform, he might have asked her to come in without paying.

However, aside from that, he needed to verify since he clearly saw her taking pictures at the entrance.

“Alright, let’s see that phone...”

Just as he reached out, assuming she was handing over the phone.

The bouncer felt Seoyeon’s palm touch his chest.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, the scene changed.

The bouncer belatedly realized he had been pushed backward and had fallen.

Seoyeon had shoved him forcefully with her palm.

With just that, the nearly 190 cm tall bouncer was pushed back several meters and toppled over.

Though he had let his guard down, it was a strength unimaginable from a young girl.

It felt as if he had been pushed by a man of similar build.

“Now.”

Then, Seoyeon quickly pulled Jiwoo’s hand and started running.

In reality, Jiwoo was more or less being dragged along.

While the bouncer got to his feet in confusion, Seoyeon and Jiwoo were already far from the area.

“Hah, hah.”

Having cried and broken into a sweat, Jiwoo sat panting on a nearby bench.

Seeing Seoyeon, who didn’t even break a sweat, Jiwoo felt dumbfounded.

‘What is she?!’

Are all high school girls like this these days?

Surely not.

She wanted to say something about the recent events, but no longer had the mental capacity to do so.

She was just in a daze.

“Now, what do I do?”

Even though her intentions were impure, she had devoted a year to acting.

She thought she might have a knack for acting.

She had considered continuing in this line of work if things worked out with Min Seo-ho.

But now, she didn’t even have the will for that.

“Why did you show me this?”

She asked again why Seoyeon had revealed the truth about Min Seo-ho to her.

Seoyeon glanced at the absent-minded Jiwoo.

Her original intention was to prevent Jiwoo from repeating her past actions.

And why did she think that?

“...It would be a waste.”

“Huh?”

“You said you’ve been at it for a year.”

Jiwoo was an incredibly talented actress.

The time she spent becoming an actress to perform with Min Seo-ho was a year.

Yes, just a year.

“I think you possess tremendous talent. So...”

Remarkably, it took her only a year to get cast in a movie.

She was that outstanding of an actress.

“I thought it would be a waste to quit over something like this.”

“...”

“And it would be unfortunate if anything bad happened because of someone like that.”

Hearing Seoyeon’s words, Jiwoo silently stared at her.

She looked awkward.

It even seemed like she was embarrassed to say such things.

Usually, she had such a stoic expression and showed little emotion.

“That's all there is to it.”

With those words, Seoyeon left.

Jiwoo could only watch Seoyeon’s retreating figure until the very end.

Just, silently.

“So.”

Lee Ji-yeon looked at me with a curious expression.

“So what happened to actor Min Seo-ho?”

“He was replaced.”

Of course, Seoyeon didn’t report him to the police directly.

Several days after that incident, Seoyeon received a call informing her that she had passed the audition.

Then, during a meeting with Jo Do-yul, she casually mentioned what had happened.

“...Are these photos real?”

“Yes. An unnie I know took them and showed them to me.”

“Ha...”

Jo Do-yul shook his head as if dealing with a headache.

Typically, plays have two or three actors for the same role.

A play usually has two or three performances a day, and it’s impossible for a single actor to perform in all of them.

This was also true for “Eyes Closed,” which had three actors for the role of Baek Sung-hak.

Incidentally, this audition was for the role of Hong Jeong-hee in the part where Min Seo-ho was the lead.

The previous two teams had been composed of remaining actors from the original production.

Since one team was missing, the audition sought to recruit others while keeping Min Seo-ho in the lead role.

“We’ll need to find a new Baek Sung-hak...”

He let out a sigh.

Usually, he didn’t meddle too much in an actor’s personal life, but with the opening approaching, any scandal could pose a significant problem.

Moreover, having two women clinging to him...

‘Why did he have to get caught by a kid?’

Joo Seoyeon.

The impact of her name was by no means trivial.

Jo Do-yul could only sigh at the looming headache.