episode_0085

Kim Sun-il and Seo Yeon-ju’s expressions turned blank.

The scene before their eyes was more brutal than they could have imagined.

The pure white belly of the fox doll was stained red with Sua’s makeup and lipstick, making it look to Kim Sun-il as if the fox was spilling its guts.

The fox doll seemed to be desperately screaming.

Save… me….

“…What on earth is she doing?”

Kim Sun-il muttered.

Even Sua’s hair was a beautiful, delicate white.

A unique fierce spirit reminiscent of an Arctic wolf; it only added to the cruelty. Kim Sun-il was still reeling from the shock when a sound struck his ears.

“Abu-bubu….”

A shocking voice.

He couldn’t understand it, but it was clear the situation was serious.

Therefore…

Thump, thump, thump!

Kim Sun-il immediately rushed into the doll department store.

In a flash, he grabbed Sua’s shoulders. Having arrived with such incredible speed, Kim Sun-il shouted.

“Lee Sua!”

“….”

Sua finally looked up, seemingly without a thought.

Her lipstick was smeared all over her face, making it look like she was covered in blood. Like a gumiho who had just devoured a person’s liver. This sent shivers down Kim Sun-il’s spine.

Still, he mustered his courage once more.

It was the courage of Lee Gang-cheol, diving into a burning warehouse.

“Lee Sua!”

“…?”

After a moment, Sua looked like she was about to be greatly surprised.

“….”

But then, her expression froze, becoming blank.

At the same time, the light faded from her eyes. She was so shocked that her brain had given up.

A Sua blue screen, perhaps?

“Hey, Lee Sua. Can you hear me?”

Kim Sun-il shook Sua again, and as she rebooted, Sua slowly looked at the person in front of her.

Sua moved her lips a few times, but in the end, she couldn’t say anything.

She was screwed.

“….”

As a result, they were both silent.

Sua’s expression was, of course, serious, and that expression was, of course, contagious to Kim Sun-il across from her.

With each passing second, the situation was unraveling like a ball of yarn.

“….”

Sua closed her eyes for a moment, as if meditating, and then…

After a long time, she finally asked.

“What did you see?”

“Everything.”

At that moment, Sua sensed that there was no escape.

Well, what could she do? Dolls were just too great for image management. The time had come to reveal everything.

But then…

Whoosh!

Kim Sun-il pulled out his phone from his pocket and held the black screen in front of Sua, like a faded mirror.

“Break free.”

“Excuse me?”

“What you see here is you. Lee Sua. This is you.”

It was around that time that Seo Yeon-ju joined them.

“What’s going on?”

Unlike Kim Sun-il, Seo Yeon-ju maintained a very relaxed attitude, which only made Kim Sun-il angrier.

He felt like she had no idea how serious this situation was.

“Seo Yeon-ju, you know as well as I do, right? What’s wrong?”

“What?”

“Lee Sua, she can’t escape from this emotional slump right now.”

“Eheuheum….”

Seo Yeon-ju shrugged.

“Well, I guess you could think that way.”

“What’s with that reaction? Is it that it doesn’t matter because it’s not your problem? That’s ridiculous. You act so friendly with Lee Sua.”

Kim Sun-il immediately held the phone mirror up to Sua again.

“Lee Sua. This is you. You’re not Wi Ji-hye, and you’re definitely not Kim Yu-han. Get close to the role, but don’t give it your whole heart. An actor mustn’t lose their identity.”

Sua couldn’t do anything.

She felt like if she rashly admitted something, something even bigger might happen.

As a result, Sua’s acknowledgement or Sua’s nods were all sealed. Her mind was racing. What on earth should she do?

But then.

“Hey, Sun-il-ah. Tone down the fuss a bit.”

Seo Yeon-ju suddenly broke the silence.

Kim Sun-il’s expression immediately crumpled.

“…Fuss?”

“Yeah. Fuss.”

“You… to a member of the same agency….”

“Don’t misunderstand. It’s not that I’m ignoring the crisis of a Mystic member. Isn’t it basic to listen to the whole thing before judging?”

“Then?”

“Sua is just practicing her acting.”

“Acting? What acting?”

Seo Yeon-ju raised a finger and explained.

“Sua has been cast as the lead in ‘Crescendo from Tomorrow.’”

“’Crescendo from Tomorrow’… directed by Director Go Tae-min?”

“Yeah. The lead role, too. Savant syndrome.”

“Ah, savant syndrome….”

Kim Sun-il immediately exclaimed and made a face of understanding, but Sua took that part more seriously.

No, why are you understanding this on your own?

Why are you accepting it so easily?

Kim Sun-il belatedly put his hand on his forehead, with a look of relief.

“I can’t believe she’s participating in Director Go Tae-min’s work.”

“Right? I heard it was the first time Director Go Tae-min had offered her a role first. I heard a lot happened at the studio, but I don’t know the details. That’s just what I briefly heard from the CEO.”

“…Anyway, I understand. It was a deliberate regression performance. The set must be in an uproar. I was completely fooled.”

“That’s to be expected. When has Sua ever done anything half-heartedly?”

Sua felt wronged at that moment.

“….”

The old Sua…

Well, even she thought she was a little slow-witted.

She’d just admit it cleanly. Sua’s stupid? Sua acknowledges.

At the time, she hadn’t even realized she was slow-witted, but thanks to her recent experience as Kim Yu-han, she was slowly realizing it. That she was stupid back then and that she was gradually developing now.

It was like a savage who used to walk around naked suddenly becoming ashamed of being seen without clothes.

Sua had now realized the shame of ignorance.

Yes, therefore, Sua didn’t want to look stupid anymore!

She’s different now! She will change!

She hates being called low-IQ too! She will become high-IQ Sua!

Because of this, she felt quite wronged. She’d rather be caught liking dolls than be treated as low-IQ.

So Sua opened her mouth.

“I actually like dolls.”

Seo Yeon-ju immediately nodded. But she wasn’t looking at Sua. She was still looking at Kim Sun-il.

“Yeah. Did you hear? The role of Kim So-hee is particularly obsessed with dolls, very childish, and has such delicate emotional lines.”

“Good grief, I’m surprised once again. To see her practicing her next role as soon as filming for Special Mobile Unit 808 is over. It’s an attempt I couldn’t make myself. The savant syndrome role, that is.”

“….”

Sua interjected once more at that moment.

“And Kim So-hee is a piano prodigy.”

Sua put a lot of emphasis on the words “prodigy.” She wanted him to focus on her high-IQ side.

“Ah.”

However…

“Geniuses have strong eccentricities. Good detail.”

Kim Sun-il was only paying attention to the eccentric part.

“….”

Sua’s head was spinning at the fact that her original self was seen that way.

“Anyway, Sua, well done. It’s always a great performance.”

“…No. That’s not possible. My acting was lacking.”

“Lacking? Anyone can see you’re Kim So-hee herself.”

“…I don’t acknowledge it.”

Sua transformation stance. Sua disacknowledgment.

Regardless, Seo Yeon-ju and Kim Sun-il were full of praise, and soon they started looking at the dolls inside the store among themselves.

Sua’s eyes welled up with tears.

‘This is too much.’

Sua whimpering…

◈◈◈◈◈

The next day.

A wrap-up dinner to celebrate the end of filming for Special Mobile Unit 808.

Sua was struck by how fast time had passed. It felt like only yesterday that they had a dinner to commemorate the start of production, but now that she had come to her senses, she was in this situation, which was quite novel.

Of course, she still couldn’t pick up meat then, and she still couldn’t pick up meat now.

Well, because today was also full of Sua stories.

“Speaking of which, Ms. Sua said this. That she wouldn’t let anyone else stand out except her. Anyway, didn’t we survive? Hahaha! Let’s commemorate it! Cheers!”

Starting with those who were excited and joking wittily.

“There’s talk that the short film Ms. Sua participated in made it to the finals? The work made by Director Park Jun.”

“Are you talking about the Busan International Short Film Festival? They put a lot of effort into it this year, right? I heard directors are coming from overseas, too, and I was already planning to go, so I hope Ms. Sua wins an award.”

Even the people who were interested in Sua’s work. Listening to those things, time flew by. Sua didn’t touch alcohol or meat, and enjoyed the attention.

Image management, image management….

However…

It still felt fresh. It really felt fresh.

‘It’s very different from the production launch dinner.’

Back then, there was only excitement and nervousness about starting out, but now it felt like she was getting off at the final stop and saying her final goodbyes.

When this party ends, everyone will go their separate ways.

‘I feel a little sad. These are people I’ve become somewhat familiar with.’

Sua herself didn’t know this, but she was quite a sentimental person. Maybe it was because she had been lonely for too long. She wasn’t used to farewells.

‘Is this when people usually drink soju? That’s usually what happens.’

Just as Sua picked up a soju glass.

“Sua.”

Kim Yi-seo approached and sat next to Sua. The CEO was so small that they looked like sisters. Sua was the older one, of course.

“I heard from Yeon-ju and Sun-il that you’re only thinking about the Kim So-hee role even outside. I’m both happy and surprised. There aren’t many actors as passionate as Sua.”

“…I don’t suit Kim So-hee.”

Kim Yi-seo pretended not to hear the incomprehensible words.

“Anyway, if you need a practice space in the future, tell me. We can get you as many dolls as you want. You don’t have to do it outdoors. Sua deserves all the support Mystic can offer.”

“…Yes.”

But Sua wasn’t planning on asking Mystic for that kind of help for the rest of her life. She’ll never show them the way she plays with dolls. Never…

She will definitely escape low-IQ.

But then.

– Sunbae, you shouldn’t do that.

“…?”

Suddenly, Sua in disguise as Kim Yu-han from within. A voice from the so-called ‘Yu-han Sua’ was heard. Sua blinked her eyes.

‘Why all of a sudden?’

– You can just say you’ll practice at home, and ask them to buy you dolls. That will make it possible to get dolls for free.

‘Hey, still, lying is a bit….’

– No. This is also necessary for future events.

‘Future events?’

– Given sunbae’s personality, you never know when they might catch you playing with dolls again, so you can just pretend that you have memories of practicing for the Kim So-hee role? Someday you might be able to play with dolls proudly in front of everyone.

‘…!’

Sua immediately grabbed Kim Yi-seo’s hand.

“…Come to think of it, it would be uncomfortable with too many people. It might be a nuisance. Please get me a lot of rabbit and fox dolls.”

Kim Yi-seo, who didn’t know anything, readily agreed.

“Okay. Then let’s resolve that part that way….”

After taking a sip of water, she calmly continued.

“With the filming of Special Mobile Unit 808 and Gum ending at the same time, there’s a week of free time in Sua’s schedule.”

“Ah?”

“I was wondering what would be good to fill it with, but let’s just rest. Sua will be very busy in the future. It’s definitely good to rest a lot now. You won’t even have time to blink later.”

Sua’s mind started calculating.

The opening of the Busan International Short Film Festival is exactly 4 days away.

Sua hadn’t made any plans for that day. Of course, because she thought she would be super busy!

But a week’s vacation?

She suddenly gained a lot of freedom.

‘…Oh? Then?’

Soon, a powerful thought flashed through Sua’s mind.

Regular meeting of the group chatroom.

‘I can participate too?’