Chapter 279: Chapter 279

Under the bright moonlight, the vast field.

The sound of leaves rustling in the cool breeze, and the chirping of insects in the bushes could be heard.

It was a scene so beautiful that it was impossible to forget, even after two years had passed.

But above all, what remained most vivid in my memory was—

"Then, please protect me. Embrace me in your arms and prevent anyone from touching me."

Lying in the wide field, I gazed up at the two eyes staring directly at me.

A voice mixed with a firm will and earnest desire.

A small hand gripping my own tightly.

"I love you, my lord."

I couldn’t look away from that graceful face, illuminated by the bright moonlight.

My heart also raced at the slight smile playing on her lips, as she made a soft curve with her mouth.

Maybe it was from that moment.

I only realized it recently...

“You called someone busy and just zoned out.”

The sharp sensation of my thumb and index finger pressing against my nose brought me back to reality.

And in front of me stood my cousin.

“You’re pinching the nose of someone who makes a living off their face.”

“Still, my fingers are more expensive.”

At her confident voice, Yoo Seong-jae was left speechless.

That’s understandable, as standing before him was the great actress Yoo Seong-ah.

Among the actresses who had worked in the same era as her, none had been more successful than Yoo Seong-ah.

Even now, as she approached her forties, she still possessed a flawless beauty.

Her position as an actress was unshakable.

And most importantly, she was the one who had mentored Ha-eun when she was still a child actress.

Now, Yoo Seong-jae was preparing to shoot The Chairman’s Youngest Grandson with Ha-eun, and instead of asking his cousin, he wanted advice from the actress herself.

“Hm, I’m on Ha-eun’s side.”

“Who asked you to be on their side? I just want to ask a few things.”

In The Chairman’s Youngest Grandson, Yoo Seong-jae played the protagonist, "Shin Do-hyun,"

while Ha-eun played the final boss, "Yoon Seo-ah."

Somehow, despite accepting the casting offer, Yoo Seong-jae couldn’t help but have many doubts.

For one thing, Ha-eun as an actress was truly intimidating.

“But, Seong-jae, you’ve already worked with her before, in Veterans.”

“In Veterans, I was with Senior Seo Jin-tae. This time, I’m on my own.”

Since their first collaboration in The Moonlight That Parts the Clouds two years ago, he’d felt it.

To put it simply, she was an actress without limits.

The reason Yeong-wol’s presence in The Moonlight That Parts the Clouds hadn’t overshadowed Crown Prince Lee Hyun was purely because of the role she was playing.

Yeong-wol had always been a character who served Lee Hyun, and Ha-eun had only acted within those confines.

On the other hand, in the following year, she’d played the villain in Veterans,

where she made a strong impact as the sole antagonist, easily stealing the spotlight.

‘Even with two of us, I didn’t get overshadowed...’

Veterans had been a huge hit, reaching the 10 million mark in box office numbers.

For Yoo Seong-jae, who was now set to face Ha-eun once more in the role of a villain, it meant serious contemplation.

“Should I play opposite her with a completely different style, or should I go for a similar vibe but with slight differences...?”

“Do you think you could match her style?”

“I’ll give it a try.”

As Yoo Seong-jae continued to voice his concerns about his performance, Yoo Seong-ah grew thoughtful.

After all, the current Seong-jae reminded her a little of her younger self.

‘He’d be surprised if he knew I was nervous.’

Back then, it wasn’t all that different for Yoo Seong-ah.

Even when she was a huge star, she’d feared her acting could be overshadowed by the unique performance of a young child actress.

Complete erasure of oneself in acting.

No thoughts, no emotions—only the character’s.

There could be no awkwardness.

‘If I hadn’t been asked to act differently back then, I wonder how things would have turned out.

Perhaps, I would have performed even more like Seong-ah, becoming a legend in my own time.’

Even now, time hadn’t changed much.

In fact, perhaps it had only become more varied.

“Seong-jae, don’t Shin Do-hyun and Ha-eun’s Yoon Seo-ah have similar personalities?”

“That’s exactly why I’m worried. If one of them seems too relaxed, it’ll definitely feel like the other is inferior.”

“Well, she did pull in a 44% viewership rating, so I understand why you’re worried.”

The same young child actress who had once made Yoo Seong-ah nervous was now making Yoo Seong-jae nervous as well.

An actress who could tighten the strings of tension just by facing her.

There were even rumors circulating that the SL Group was involved in something related to Ha-eun.

Some strange rumors were spreading on the internet.

I’m not sure how ridiculous these rumors must have been for SL Group to step in.

But it only showed that Ha-eun had become someone of that caliber.

Someone who could make a major corporation controlling the country’s cultural businesses take action.

“Well, good luck. Getting to act with someone like that is a great opportunity.”

“...Is that all you have to say?”

“What else do you want me to say? Should I tell you Ha-eun’s snack preferences too?”

“...What’s with the hesitation? It was a joke.”

Anyway, after finishing the conversation with Yoo Seong-ah, Yoo Seong-jae left her house.

Now, he planned to think for himself about how he would act alongside Ha-eun.

Just, thinking that seeing it with his own eyes would be better than hearing about it—

He decided to check out Ha-eun’s performance in The Moonlight That Parts the Clouds, which had gained immense popularity.

[ Ha-eun’s latest news from the Maldives ]

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

His attention was drawn to ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ a short clip that appeared as a related video under Ha-eun’s name.

Curious and with a mix of excitement, he clicked on the play button to reveal the Maldives sea.

「S-shark. Shark!! Why is it coming this way!!!」

「Da-yeon, Da-yeon! Calm down, calm down~.」

‘She must have gone with Da-yeon.’

The first scene of the clip showed Da-yeon, dressed in a swimsuit, struggling in the middle of the Maldives sea.

Alongside her, the voice of the local guide could be heard, trying to calm her down as he chuckled.

But right after that—

The scene switched to Ha-eun, also in a swimsuit, swimming in the ocean.

Or rather, swimming straight toward a shark that was slowly approaching Da-yeon. This moment was captured by the guide’s action cam.

What was even more surprising, though, came immediately after that.

Ha-eun grabbed the shark by its body and, as she spun her body, threw the shark forcefully up toward the surface, sending it splashing into the distance.

Yoo Seong-jae’s eyes widened as he tried to process what had just happened.

Did she just throw a shark?

Is this even possible in real life?

「I... I threw the shark...」

「I thought you were scared of it.」

「...Now I’m more scared of you.」

Seeing Da-yeon’s stunned expression as she watched Ha-eun, Yoo Seong-jae found himself for the first time deeply empathizing with her feelings.

“...How do you even beat someone like that?”

Although Yoo Seong-jae was the lead in The Chairman’s Youngest Grandson and had to defeat Ha-eun’s final boss character, he had no confidence in beating someone who throws sharks underwater.

Trying to outwit the mind games between Shin Do-hyun and Yoon Seo-ah would probably be useless if strength was involved.

"Here, they mostly have seafood. Let me try the lobster first."

At the time when Ha-eun and Da-yeon's shark sightseeing video was gaining attention for various reasons,

Ha-eun in the Maldives went live on YouTube again, this time starting a buffet review broadcast.

"Da-yeon... It's all just meat. The selection doesn’t have enough variety of nutrients. Disqualified."

"Why are you worried about nutrients at a buffet...."

And so, after broadcasting the scene of Ha-eun and Da-yeon having dinner in real-time through Ha-eun’s phone,

the live stream continued as they left the buffet and returned to their accommodation.

When they finally arrived at the door of the accommodation, Ha-eun waved lightly at the camera to say goodbye.

"Get some rest, and I'll see you in Korea. Bye~~."

[ Ha-eun [Haeun Official] has ended the stream. ]

After completely ending the live broadcast, Ha-eun walked into the vast accommodation.

Having just finished dinner, she still appeared full of energy.

On the other hand, Da-yeon, exhausted from the events of the day, immediately lay down on the bed.

Though she had eaten with Ha-eun, the overwhelming tiredness left her unable to lift a finger.

"Ah... I’m so tired... But I can't sleep..."

"Watch TV then. They have Uflix here."

"I have something I want to do."

After sitting at the table with a notebook and pen, Ha-eun's actions caught Da-yeon's curious gaze.

Though she didn’t intend to say anything, she was curious about what Ha-eun was up to.

So, dragging her exhausted body, Da-yeon walked slowly over to Ha-eun,

rested her chin on Ha-eun’s shoulder, and asked what she was going to do.

"It’s nothing... I’m just writing some lyrics."

"Yeah. I have a song I want to release."

After Da-yeon returned to the bed, Ha-eun clicked her pen and began writing in her notebook.

Watching her, Da-yeon remembered a few things belatedly.

‘Come to think of it, she said she’s been number 1 on the charts for a month now...’

Maybe it was thanks to the record-breaking success of God and the Goblin.

Ha-eun's song Snowflake had been holding the number one spot on the music charts for a while.

Perhaps that's why Ha-eun wanted to release a new song.

Well, it didn’t matter what Ha-eun did as long as it was something she wanted.

The Maldives, where no one recognized Ha-eun, was meant to be a place for her to relax.

Whether she was writing lyrics or singing, Da-yeon just wanted Ha-eun to do as she pleased.

"Is it a song with a featuring?"

"Uh... I’m not sure yet."

"If you're thinking of featuring someone, you should ask Song Hyun-min. You’ve featured for him, right?"

"Yeah. I’ll think about it."

After that, Da-yeon didn’t bother Ha-eun, who was now focused again on her writing.

Once Ha-eun finished writing the lyrics, she too collapsed on the bed, stretching out like a slug.

"Then, how about we watch a movie?"

"A movie? What kind of movie?"

"Let’s search for one now."

Realizing it would be a while before she could sleep, Da-yeon started looking for a movie to watch with Ha-eun.

The resort’s large TV supported all major OTT services, making it easy to find something to watch.

After some time searching through movies available on the OTT service,

they finally found something interesting.

"How about Friended? I heard it won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival last year."

Friended was a masterpiece that had won the highest honor, the Golden Bear, at the Berlin Film Festival.

Coincidentally, it was similar to Parasite Family, the film Ha-eun and Da-yeon were currently filming.

Like Parasite Family, the film starred students and satirized society.

The main difference was that in Friended, the students were from foreign universities.

"Hmm, it sounds good."

"Alright, let's watch it."

Since it had won such a prestigious award, Ha-eun and Da-yeon figured there would be valuable takeaways for them.

That’s why they decided to watch Friended.

‘They said it was pretty risqué, but... well, we’re both adults now.’

With no real thought behind it, Da-yeon pressed play on the movie, feeling half-curious and half-excited.

Ha-eun shared the same sentiment.

However, unlike Da-yeon, who watched the movie with a serious expression,

Ha-eun’s thoughts were a little different.

Friended featured foreign college students.

True to its nature as a black comedy, it depicted the wild college culture in full.

What’s often called “hooking up”

What’s referred to as “one-night stands” in Korea.

Of course, the entire film wasn’t just filled with chaotic scenes.

It also explored the characters’ struggles, self-destructive tendencies, and realizations, woven throughout the movie.

However, because she had no tolerance for this kind of thing,

Ha-eun had nowhere to look but at the TV screen, avoiding the nudity.

Stealing glances at Da-yeon, sitting right next to her, Ha-eun couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed.

Watching this kind of movie with a friend made her feel somewhat shy.