WeTried Translations
Translator: uglyidol
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became a Top Star by Only Playing Villains ◈
Chapter 20: That Scene
──────
Ding.
When the elevator reached the fifth floor, I stepped out feeling a little nervous.
Ding-dong.
As soon as I rang the bell, a handsome man greeted me with a bright smile.
“Hansol! You made it? It’s been a while!”
“Ah, yes! Senior! It’s good to see you again!”
The person welcoming me was Jeong In-hwan, the male lead of <The Last Clue>.
Today, the people from <The Last Clue> who had been close were gathering at Actor Jeong In-hwan’s home for dinner and to watch the premiere together.
“Thank you for inviting me today. I didn’t think I should come empty-handed, so...”
I handed In-hwan the toilet paper I had bought on the way over.
It wasn’t a housewarming party, so I wondered if toilet paper had been a strange choice, but thankfully, he accepted it with a smile.
“It’s just a simple dinner, so you could’ve come empty-handed, but thank you. I’ll put it to good use. Everyone’s waiting inside, so come on in.”
“Ah, yes...!”
Naturally, the home of a box-office star like Jeong In-hwan was incredibly nice.
He lived in an upscale villa complex in Gangnam.
And when I say villa, don’t imagine a place like the villa where I lived.
Security guards watched the front gate closely, and the garden was lined with carefully maintained flowers and trees. It was practically a palace.
‘Wow... There are paintings hanging in the hallway.’
I passed through a splendid hallway that felt like an art gallery and entered the living room, where the people who had arrived ahead of me welcomed me.
“Oh? Hansol’s here!”
“Hansol! It’s been so long!”
Shin Ah-gyeong, the female lead of <The Last Clue>, head writer Kim Seonmi, and other actors I had grown close to on set.
I’d been so focused on <Hyde> rehearsals that I hadn’t even had time to contact them.
Seeing my old colleagues again after so long made me happy too.
“It’s good to see you all again! How many months has it even been...?”
“We invited you to the wrap party after <The Last Clue> finished filming. Why didn’t you come? We waited forever!”
“I’m sorry. I was busy with play rehearsals back then.”
“Haha, I’m not blaming you. You must be hungry, right? Sit down!”
My seat was between Shin Ah-gyeong and Writer Kim Seonmi.
As I sat beside them and caught up on everything we’d missed, the host, Jeong In-hwan, began setting the table.
“Like I said beforehand, today’s menu is jokbal. Is that okay?”
“That sounds perfect.”
“And this is...”
“What? In-hwan, did you make this yourself?”
Today’s meal was jokbal, braised pig’s trotters.
And along with that...
“Yes. I made saury kimchi stew myself.”
Jeong In-hwan, a box-office star, had personally made saury kimchi stew.
Jokbal, saury kimchi stew, and steamed white rice.
The house was gorgeous enough to feel luxurious, but the meal somehow felt warm and homey.
And of course, we couldn’t leave out soju.
Glug.
“Come on, let’s have a drink.”
“Sounds good.”
We ate and drank soju while waiting for <The Last Clue> to premiere on Webflix at eight that evening.
“Come to think of it, where’s Director-Producer Park Yeong-won?”
“They said they had a very important appointment with people from the company.”
“But Writer Kim, haven’t you already seen the final edit? Are you okay watching it again?”
“I deliberately waited so I could watch it with all of you.”
“Ooh, what loyalty.”
“In-hwan, where did you get this jokbal? It’s seriously delicious.”
“It’s good, right? I bought it in Seongsu-dong. That jokbal place there...”
Maybe it was because we hadn’t seen one another in so long.
Just chatting about trivial things with my <The Last Clue> colleagues was so enjoyable that I lost track of time.
After we’d each emptied around three or four glasses of soju, it was already eight o’clock.
“...It’s time.”
“...I’ll start it.”
The actors who’d been happily chatting until then all turned pale as soon as it became eight.
They were nervous.
No matter how well we thought we’d filmed it, we wouldn’t know the quality of the actual broadcast until we watched it.
“...Shall we start from Episode 1?”
“Yes...!”
Once everyone nodded, Jeong In-hwan pressed the button on the remote.
Ta-dum.
With Webflix’s familiar sound effect, Episode 1 of <The Last Clue> Season 1 began playing.
Pitter-patter-patter.
It opened on a mountain in the middle of a torrential downpour.
“Arghhh!!”
A corpse had been discovered on the mountain.
It was the sixth unsolved murder case in Seoul.
“What do you think? Is it him?”
“...Yes. He left his signature knot-tying method again, so people would know it was him.”
Detective Yu Hyeju, played by Shin Ah-gyeong, and profiler Choi Minho, played by Jeong In-hwan.
The main story of <The Last Clue> Season 1 was the two protagonists searching for the real culprit behind a serial murder case.
“Ooh, Ah-gyeong, the camera really loves you this time. Why are you so pretty?”
“What are you talking about? I’ve always been pretty.”
“Hahaha. That’s true.”
As the story progressed, the actors’ expressions brightened and the mood relaxed.
The actual broadcast was much better than we’d expected.
But while the mood among the actors became lighter, the mood in the drama grew darker.
“It’s... not him.”
“What...?”
“I’m saying he’s not the real culprit!”
They’d tracked down the clues and caught a suspect...
But the suspect the two protagonists had been certain was the killer wasn’t behind the serial murders.
The serial killer was still walking around freely near them.
Who was the devil committing such horrific acts so casually among them?
Then, the tense scene changed.
“Wow! Freesias are so pretty!”
It looked like an ordinary daily scene.
“You come here quite often these days. You must really like flowers, miss.”
“Yes! My dream is to become a florist someday!”
The protagonist’s younger sister, Yu Hye-seo, visited a flower shop.
And Kim Minu, the flower shop owner, warmly welcomed her in an entirely ordinary scene.
Until now, Kim Minu had simply been one of the supporting characters.
Friendly and easygoing, occasionally even helping the detectives with their investigation.
He didn’t stand out much, but somehow seemed to appear often.
Just an ordinary person.
But...
“...Ah, your dream is to become a florist?”
Kim Minu soon began removing the mask of normalcy he wore.
“I think your shop is great because it has so many rare varieties!”
“Ah, you’re interested in rare species. Then...”
His eyes swept over Yu Hye-seo’s entire body, filled with ugly intent.
“Actually, I have many ‘special’ flowers in my private workshop.”
“Would you... like to come see them?”
The twist was that Kim Minu, the flower shop owner, was actually a psychopathic serial killer.
Everyone here already knew that truth, but...
“...”
“...”
The actors beside me couldn’t easily speak.
Especially during the scene where Yu Hye-seo became the seventh victim of the serial murder case...
“I’ll make you pretty soon.”
“Ah... ngh... ahhh!!”
“I love you.”
“Waaah...! M-Mom...! Sis...! Save me...!! Ah...! S-Someone, please save me...! Please...!! Waaah!!”
“Ah, fuck. I can’t hear the music. It’s my favorite track.”
Everyone either grimaced or trembled.
I was one of the people who’d been shocked.
‘So that was the expression I was making.’
I’d never gotten the chance to see the footage with my own eyes before...
But on screen, I looked like a devil incarnate in <The Last Clue>.
“Even seeing it again, Hansol’s acting is terrifying...”
“But thanks to Hansol, the drama really came alive.”
As Actor Jeong In-hwan said, after the reveal that Kim Minu was the serial killer, the tension in the drama rose even higher.
The two protagonists searched for evidence to find the true culprit behind the serial murders.
Meanwhile, Kim Minu targeted the protagonist’s younger sister and committed the seventh murder.
“No...!!! Hye-seo!! Aaaaahhh!!”
“Detective Yu! Calm down first...!”
“No...!! Please...!! Aahhh...!”
It was desperately tragic and desperately tense.
Even though we’d filmed it ourselves, we watched the drama with bated breath as if it were our first time seeing it.
As the drama raced toward its climax, Shin Ah-gyeong grinned.
“Hansol. That scene is coming up soon.”
“That scene? Ah...”
I immediately realized which scene Shin Ah-gyeong meant.
Right. That scene was coming up.
Shin Ah-gyeong and I looked at each other and snickered as we waited for the highlight of <The Last Clue> Season 1.
* * *
“Yeah...!! I knew that bastard was the killer!!”
No, she hadn’t known.
After watching the <The Last Clue> teaser, she’d felt an inexplicable chill from Kim Minu, the flower shop owner...
But when his presence didn’t stand out in Episodes 1 and 2, she’d simply assumed she was wrong.
Yet that man was truly the culprit behind the serial murders.
“Wow... But seriously, wow...”
Shiver shiver shiver.
The unexpected twist made her body shake.
More than anything...
“Don’t worry. You’ll live.”
“In my heart.”
“You’ll become my work and live forever.”
That insane psychopathic serial killer was terrifying.
‘...Is he really the same person from earlier?’
At the beginning, Kim Minu had only felt like an ordinary, kind neighbor you could find anywhere.
Now, the overwhelming presence he gave off made her skin crawl.
“Waaah...! M-Mom...! Sis...! Save me...!! Ah...! S-Someone, please save me...! Please...!! Waaah!!”
“Ah, fuck. I can’t hear the music. It’s my favorite track.”
“She’s crying and screaming. It’s fucking loud. I should cut off a limb first.”
“Ugh... N-No...!”
The acting was so vivid that she was automatically drawn into the situation.
The office worker held a pillow tightly against her chest and watched <The Last Clue> with trembling eyes.
‘S-So scary... But it’s so good...’
It was scary, but good.
It was so good that she couldn’t stop watching.
That was how she felt about <The Last Clue>.
The biggest reason the drama was so gripping was, naturally, Kim Minu.
“Huh? N-No! Don’t get close to him! He’s a murderer!”
Suspense.
A storytelling technique that makes viewers feel anxious and tense because the characters don’t know that something terrible is about to happen.
She, watching from outside the screen, knew Kim Minu was the serial killer.
But the characters in <The Last Clue> still had no idea who Kim Minu really was.
Whenever the characters approached Kim Minu without even dreaming he was a murderer, her heart pounded because she didn’t know when he might reveal his murderous intent again.
But a criminal who runs for too long eventually slips up.
The protagonists of <The Last Clue> soon found decisive evidence and drew closer to the true culprit.
Yu Hyeju, the protagonist and older sister of the seventh serial murder victim, in particular...
“Come to think of it...”
Along with various circumstances and pieces of evidence, she found a flowerpot from Kim Minu’s shop in her younger sister’s room.
She became half-convinced that Kim Minu was the serial killer.
With renewed determination, Yu Hyeju went to Kim Minu’s flower shop.
Pretending not to know, Yu Hyeju tried to draw more evidence out of Kim Minu.
“When we went to the victim’s house, there was this flower. Its name was... lisianthus, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. It’s popular with young people these days...”
“I never said the victim was young.”
“...”
She cheered for Yu Hyeju from outside the screen.
“That’s right, unni! He’s the killer! Smash his head in! Grab that flowerpot next to you and smash his head in!”
Kim Minu was the main villain.
His presence was so overwhelming and horrifying that she couldn’t help fervently cheering for the protagonists.
She wanted them to catch that terrible bastard as soon as possible.
But then...
“Ah, there was a flowerpot from your shop at the victim’s house. Could I see the list of delivery orders from the past week?”
“...”
“...Sir?”
“...”
“Why are you asking? Just arrest him! He’s the cul... Wait, huh?”
She’d been shouting, completely absorbed in the drama, but soon noticed something strange and fell silent.
“...”
“...”
“...What is this?”
It was quiet.
Too quiet.
At some point, the background music had disappeared.
The screen showed Kim Minu from behind.
And...
Yu Hyeju, staring at Kim Minu’s back with tense eyes.
“...”
The atmosphere had become not merely unsettling, but chilling.
She, watching outside the screen, shrank back too.
It was frightening.
The chill she’d felt from Kim Minu after seeing the <The Last Clue> teaser.
No, something several times colder than that...
Then it happened.
“Ha... Fuck.”
Kim Minu finally threw off his mask and revealed his true self.
Annoyance, rage, murderous intent.
All kinds of grotesque emotions were mixed across his face as he turned around.
Thump thump thump thump.
In that moment, her heart began pounding as if it would burst.
The immense malice pouring from Kim Minu...
It overwhelmed and crushed Yu Hyeju on screen, her outside the screen...
No, everyone watching <The Last Clue>.
“So this fucking bitch knew everything already, and she’s been playing with me?”
“...Holy shit.”
Something caught in her throat, making it difficult to breathe.
Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump.
Could a heart really beat this fast?
Kim Minu’s overwhelming terror made her vision go yellow.
“...Hah. This is insane.”
Had she ever gotten goosebumps from someone’s acting to this extent?
Episode 4 of <The Last Clue> Season 1 ended with serial killer Kim Minu revealing his identity before protagonist Yu Hyeju.
“...N-Next episode.”
With trembling hands, she picked up the remote.
The only thought in her mind was to somehow play the next episode.
But...
[<The Last Clue> Season 1 Episode 5 will be released in 7 days!]
“...Huh?”
Webflix was a company that knew better than anyone else how to infuriate viewers.
“You crazy bastards!! You’re ending it here?!”
No matter how much she pressed the innocent remote, nothing changed.
She would have to wait another week to watch the next episode of <The Last Clue>.
“No...! This can’t be right...! The next episode...! Please...!”
She was dying to know.
What happened after this?
Would the protagonist finally catch that insane psychopath...?
Or would that crazy bastard kill the protagonist too?
“Ah, fuck...! This is driving me crazy...!”
Unable to bear it any longer, she picked up her phone.
“But wow... Kim Minu, that actor’s name was Lee Hansol, right? What kind of person is he?”
The first thing she searched for after turning on her phone was Lee Hansol.
Naturally.
The reason she’d watched <The Last Clue> with her heart in her throat was entirely because of that overwhelmingly frightening main villain.
And everyone who’d watched <The Last Clue> felt the same way she did.
- wow, this is fucking good
- best thing I’ve watched this year;;;
- next episode!!! next episode!!!!
- you crazy bastards, put out the next episode already!!!
- what is this...? I watched the whole thing without breathing
- who’s that villain role? Why is he so good at acting? Seriously gave me fucking chills
- must be a rookie, but his acting is god-tier
- he just blows Shin Ah-gyeong and Jeong In-hwan out of the water with acting alone
- so what’s that actor’s name again?
<The Last Clue> and Lee Hansol.
Various online communities and social media were already flooded with those two names.
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