Chapter 285: Chapter 285

The crisp morning breeze of February.

A white tail swaying just a few steps ahead.

"Seola. Not the right—left. Right doesn’t lead anywhere."

As usual, Ha-eun was out on her morning walk with Baekseol. She gently guided her to the left path.

But the moment they turned left and took about five or six steps—

Just as Baekseol looked up at Ha-eun, she suddenly took off running.

Ha-eun quickly picked up her pace and managed to scoop up Baekseol just before she could leap down a slope.

"Guess it's ‘cause you’re still just a year old. So full of curiosity."

It had already been almost a year since Ha-eun started raising Baekseol.

When she first brought her home, Baekseol was only three months old—tiny in every way. But now she clearly looked like a Pomeranian.

At a glance, she resembled a fox more than a dog.

Still, she was a young pup, and moments —when she tried to leap fearlessly—had to be stopped.

Small dogs like Baekseol were prone to kneecap dislocation, after all.

"Alright, let’s head home."

Ha-eun set Baekseol down on the path that led back to their place and began to jog lightly.

Since she had to head straight to the gym after dropping Baekseol off, it made sense to use this time as a warm-up.

For some reason, Baekseol always ended up totally wiped out after Ha-eun jogged—so Ha-eun often ran to tire her out a bit on purpose.

She’d once read somewhere that ending a walk with pent-up energy causes stress for dogs.

Squeak squeak squeak squeak.

Pant pant pant pant pant pant...

“...Ha-eun. What on earth do you do every morning? Seol’s about to pass out."

And so, after dropping Baekseol off at home, Ha-eun headed straight for the gym.

Once in the locker room, she changed into her workout clothes. In the mirror, she was greeted by her trademark 11-line abs.

They were nothing new to her, but lately, people had been asking her to tone it down (in the most respectful way possible).

They said if she built any more muscle, it might start being a negative—at least cosmetically.

"You only really see it when I’m shirtless... It’s not like it shows much with clothes on."

She poked her abs lightly with her index finger—and immediately, boing, her finger bounced right off.

Ha-eun blinked in silence.

Okay yeah, the elasticity was kind of crazy.

Maybe she really didn’t need to build any more muscle.

Turns out “too much is as bad as too little” wasn’t said for nothing.

So she decided to just maintain her current {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} routine.

An hour later, after finishing her entire routine and stepping out of the shower, her phone buzzed.

[ Hey, Ha-eun. Where are you? I’m on my way over. ]

After hearing Ju Jung-yoon’s estimated arrival time, Ha-eun threw her sponsored Naikayon gym bag over her shoulder and took off running.

At this hour, running home was the only way to eat breakfast and still make it to her schedule on time.

She raced through the morning streets and made it home to find Baekseol fast asleep.

Despite probably hearing Ha-eun come in, she didn’t stir—she must’ve been deeply asleep.

Even after Ha-eun finished eating and changed into her outfit for the day, Baekseol was still snoozing.

Only when Ha-eun softly said goodbye did she stretch and open her eyes.

"I’m heading out. Bye, Seol."

Baekseol quietly watched Ha-eun as she walked out the front door.

Then, not long after Ha-eun left, she curled back up and went straight back to sleep. She was exhausted.

Just as Baekseol’s quiet breathing returned to a gentle rhythm,

Ha-eun, now seated in Ju Jung-yoon’s van, began receiving updates.

Her schedule had gotten busy again ever since God and the Goblin had wrapped up.

"Today it’s Parasite Family filming, then around 2 PM, a meeting about dubbing The Forgotten Child—"

"In the evening, we head to My Little Live set for rehearsal, then film the opening—"

"As for Yeryeo University’s orientation, that might clash with the chairman’s grandson’s script reading—"

With Ha-eun’s schedule growing more intense, Ju Jung-yoon’s briefing didn’t seem like it was going to stop.

Although filming for Parasite Family, her main project, was approaching its latter half—she still had commercial shoots and other jobs lined up right after.

The only silver lining was that, thanks to years of training from a young age, Ha-eun’s stamina was top-tier.

But even so, sometimes Ju Jung-yoon couldn’t help but wonder—

“Is this really okay...?”

I should at least make sure she snacks in between, she thought, and turned slightly to ask Ha-eun what she wanted.

But what she saw instead was Ha-eun, hunched forward, clearly amused by something.

At some point, Ha-eun had started quietly chuckling to herself.

When asked what she was watching, all she said was one word: "Secret."

"...It’s a secret... hehe..."

Even after that, Ha-eun kept smiling while looking at her phone.

And playing through the earbuds in her ears—was none other than Da-yeon’s voice.

[ Anonymous d ₩10,000! ]

: Witch, sharks in the Maldives don’t bite 🦈 no need to be scared!

[ YesYes d ₩10,000! ]

: Tell us how it felt being princess-carried by Diah-senpai 😂

[ RoundSunRiseDaramsi d ₩10,000! ]

: An honor to be in the presence of the great actress Min Da-yeon... 🙇‍♂️

[ I'mAFan d ₩10,000! ]

: Hida mid <<<<< Diah mid is the real deal 😭😭😭😭😭

"Out, out, out, all of you. OUT."

Unlike Ha-eun, who had taken a fairly long break after the red pill incident, Da-yeon didn’t really go on hiatus.

She was back streaming the very next day after Hida’s graduation explanation video dropped.

Naturally, the stream went completely off the rails.

With countless newcomers rushing in after hearing that Hida was actually Min Da-yeon, chaos was inevitable.

But from Ha-eun’s perspective, it was the most entertaining thing ever.

Even though her schedule meant she could only watch short clips instead of the full stream, she couldn’t stop smiling the entire time.

[ I💖MinDa-yeon d ₩100,000! ]

"Ah, thank you I💖MinDa-yeon for the ₩100,000 dona—... I'm not like that. Who even is that person?"

Right now, Ha-eun’s YouTube watch history was filled with nothing but Hida’s broadcast clips.

Even while riding in the car, she’d sneak in short clips and laugh with her arms wrapped around her stomach.

Though by the time she arrived at the filming set for Parasite Family, she had to wipe the grin off her face.

"Oh, Ha-eun. You’re here early."

As always, she greeted everyone around the set before heading to the dressing room, where she changed into Yoo Ye-rim’s outfit.

It felt like it had been forever since her last movie shoot—but that was probably just in her head.

Anyway, there was only about a month of Parasite Family filming left.

Ha-eun was determined to finish strong.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Today’s scene had Yoo Ye-rim teasing Kim Ji-min, played by Da-yeon.

Technically it wasn’t really a teasing scene—but watching Da-yeon flustered was a treat for Ha-eun.

Even if it was just acting.

Maybe... she’ll actually get flustered for real.

Not long after that thought, her makeup as Yoo Ye-rim was finished and she headed back to the set.

Da-yeon had already arrived.

While the lighting and cameras were being precisely adjusted, Ha-eun mentally rehearsed scene #75.

In S#75, Yoo Ye-rim had recently clashed with Kim Ji-min’s father, Kim Seok-yoon.

She now viewed Ji-min, who remained clueless, as overly naïve.

Is this the first time we’re shooting the birthday party scene?

Since S#75 focused more on body language than lines, Ha-eun lightly moved her fingers to rehearse.

Meanwhile, Da-yeon was still buried in her script—probably hadn’t memorized all her lines yet.

Soon enough, the set was ready.

"Alright, we’ll begin. ...Cue!"

Ha-eun and Da-yeon moved to their marks.

With Director Sung Chan-wook’s signal, the filming of S#75—the birthday party scene—began.

"Happy birthday, Ji-min."

A calm voice, void of dramatic emotion.

Just one friend speaking to another.

Her smile was light, as if she had no other meaning behind her words.

"Did you make a wish?"

Ji-min had just blown out the candles on her cake. The two began to chat casually.

Then, just as Ji-min was about to say what her wish had been—

"For my birthday wish, I wished that—"

Yoo Ye-rim’s index finger gently pressed against Ji-min’s lips.

It was a silent signal that she didn’t care about Ji-min’s wish.

At the same time, it subtly revealed a flicker of vulnerability in Yoo Ye-rim’s heart.

"Shh. If someone hears your wish, it won’t come true."

She had no interest in confirming whether Ji-min truly thought of her as a friend.

So, with her finger gently resting on Ji-min’s lips, she smiled. A harmless smile.

Whatever Ji-min’s birthday wish was, it would only complicate things.

To Yoo Ye-rim, Ji-min was someone to be used.

Their physical proximity masked the emotional distance she maintained.

And so, the ‘acting’ continued.

Even as she shared birthday cake and played the role of a friend, she never felt like one.

What mattered to Yoo Ye-rim was not being Ji-min’s friend, but looking like she was.

"You’ve got cream on your cheek. Hang on...."

Yoo Ye-rim slowly reached out.

Then gently wiped the cream off Ji-min’s cheek and—playfully—licked the cream off her finger while making eye contact.

A faint smile spread across Yoo Ye-rim’s lips.

Meanwhile, Ji-min, who never expected her to lick the cream, flushed and looked startled.

"T-that’s gross... why would you eat that..."

"It’s fine. It was sweet."

Was it the cream that was sweet... or the reality of sitting in a luxurious mansion eating an expensive cake?

Yoo Ye-rim let out a quiet, self-mocking laugh.

"Ahem. Let’s do another take~."

Director Sung Chan-wook called for a retake, and Ha-eun paused mid-performance.

Did she mess up her line?

But... she hadn’t stuttered or anything.

"Da-yeon, your eyes were darting a bit too much. Let’s calm that down a little, okay?"

Turned out the NG wasn’t because of Ha-eun, but Da-yeon.

To Ha-eun, it didn’t seem like a big issue—but apparently, the director thought otherwise.

Still, Da-yeon was low-key offended.

And honestly, who could blame her?

"Hey. Lee Ha-eun, that was way too sexy. What even was that tongue action...?"

What she’d just witnessed didn’t feel like teasing—it felt like seduction.

Ha-eun’s finger sliding down her own lips, slowly trailing across, followed by a pink tongue licking the cream like a slow-motion scene.

It was all kinds of intense.

Maybe even more so because it was coming from someone she was close with.

Meanwhile, the tips of Ha-eun’s ears were turning bright red.

Only just now had she realized what kind of memory had crept into her performance.

"What the—Lee Ha-eun, are you running a fever? Why’re you so red?" 😳

A faint twitch in her eyebrows.

Eyes that weren’t seeing Da-yeon in front of her, but remembering a scene from Friended they’d watched together a few weeks ago in the Maldives.

A flush rising in her cheeks.

Whoever said “ignorance is bliss” was definitely talking about this kind of moment.

Realizing why Da-yeon broke character, Ha-eun murmured an apology in the smallest voice.

The thing she’d mimicked a moment ago—was just a little too enchanting for a high school girl like Yoo Ye-rim.