Chapter 7
“All right. You can go.”
Geum Sa-ra waved her hand dismissively, effectively sending Lee Jeong-han away. However, Lee Jeong-han still had to do his job as Baek Ga-yoon’s manager.
“Um, when should I tell them Ms. Baek’s next filming schedule will be?”
“Tsk!”
Geum Sa-ra clicked her tongue and waved her hand irritably, as though this wasn’t the time to be discussing such things.
Swallowing a sigh, Lee Jeong-han bowed his head and left the CEO’s office.
“You didn’t even check properly!”
Once the two of them were alone in the CEO’s office, Geum Sa-ra scolded Baek Ga-yoon.
Baek Ga-yoon remained pale as she fell deep into thought.
Watching her daughter, Geum Sa-ra sighed and continued.
“That’s right. Killing someone isn’t easy, either. It was my fault for believing without question that my delicate daughter had killed someone with her own hands and not checking more carefully.”
It’s my fault. My fault.
Geum Sa-ra muttered rapidly before suddenly clapping her hands.
“Isn’t this actually a good thing? It never happened, sweetheart!”
While Geum Sa-ra rejoiced, Baek Ga-yoon sighed and shook her head.
She’s alive?
How is that possible?
Then you’re saying she got up and went to film on her own?
She hadn’t looked like she was in any condition to film.
“Anyway, control your temper and finish filming! Whew! You nearly gave me a heart attack. Just rest at home for today. Let the swelling around your wounds go down a little. Okay?”
When Geum Sa-ra asked again to make sure she understood, Baek Ga-yoon nodded absentmindedly and stood up.
For now, she needed somewhere she could be alone.
After returning home, Baek Ga-yoon immediately sat down in front of the mirror.
“Hey. Do you know what happened?”
She had barely spoken before black shadows began writhing behind Baek Ga-yoon in the mirror.
Perhaps those evil spirits knew what had happened.
Baek Ga-yoon had been making deals with them since she was young.
Their numbers seemed to increase as time passed, but since they had never particularly harmed her, she hadn’t paid much attention to them.
The largest shadow among them rose and approached her.
Creak. Creak—
As the shadow drew closer, red letters appeared across the mirror as though they had been violently scribbled there with lipstick.
[Jeong Ga-yoon, survived]
A hollow laugh escaped Baek Ga-yoon.
She really survived?
“How?”
Baek Ga-yoon’s face twisted horribly.
The scratches Jeong Ga-yoon had left on her face pulled painfully as she moved, making irritation surge through her.
[Small evil spirit, attached, deal]
Baek Ga-yoon stared at the words floating on the mirror.
She trembled before sweeping everything off the vanity.
Crash—!
Various cosmetics, perfume bottles, and ornaments spilled onto the floor with a deafening racket.
“Aaaah!”
Of course, Baek Ga-yoon didn’t care whether she was making a loud noise or whether the room was becoming a mess.
She was too busy huffing in fury.
“A deal! You mean she made a deal?”
Just as Baek Ga-yoon had gained acting ability in exchange for committing all kinds of evil deeds, Jeong Ga-yoon had apparently extended her life by offering evil deeds in exchange.
It was unbelievable.
“I wasn’t the only one who could do that?”
Baek Ga-yoon demanded the answer from the shadow in the mirror.
But there was no response.
“Ugh! This is so frustrating!”
It was frustrating that she couldn’t properly communicate with those evil spirits.
She roughly swept her hair back and sighed.
Jeong Ga-yoon survived.
That meant she would have to see Jeong Ga-yoon as soon as she went to the set.
Of course, whether Jeong Ga-yoon confronted her or not, Baek Ga-yoon intended to deny everything.
It wasn’t that meeting Jeong Ga-yoon herself was unpleasant.
It was her very existence that was unpleasant.
To Baek Ga-yoon, Jeong Ga-yoon was an anxiety-inducing variable.
A ticking time bomb.
Although it had been somewhat impulsive, Baek Ga-yoon had been relieved that she had managed to kill her this time.
Would she get another opportunity like that?
Probably not.
She wouldn’t get another chance to kill Jeong Ga-yoon without anyone knowing.
If Jeong Ga-yoon had any brains, she wouldn’t stay alone anymore, either.
“Calm down. Calm down.”
Baek Ga-yoon exhaled deeply and slowly breathed in, trying to settle her anxiety.
No one knew that Jeong Ga-yoon was actually Geum Sa-ra’s biological daughter rather than Baek Ga-yoon.
No one would ever know as long as she didn’t reveal it herself.
“That’s right. No one knows.”
She muttered the words like a spell.
But there was one person who knew a secret that no one else knew.
Herself.
That she knew.
They said that a guilty person would give themselves away.
Her entire body began to tremble.
She approached the small safe in the corner of her dressing room, placed her finger against the scanner, and opened it.
Beep-beep— Click.
The safe opened, and she took out an envelope of documents.
They were the paternity test results for Baek Ga-yoon and Geum Sa-ra.
The result: not a match.
Then she took out another document.
While filming The Conditions of Inheritance, she had secretly obtained some of Jeong Ga-yoon’s hair.
It was the paternity test between Jeong Ga-yoon and Geum Sa-ra.
The result was a 99.9% match.
“Ha… Fuck.”
Baek Ga-yoon cursed as she tightened her grip.
The thin documents were horribly crumpled in her fist.
Meanwhile, the large evil spirit watching from behind Baek Ga-yoon clicked its tongue in disappointment.
It had begun swatting away the small evil spirits attached to Baek Ga-yoon’s body one by one.
It would take considerable strength and effort to drive them all away, so it had simply left them alone.
It had never expected Jeong Ga-yoon to take one of them.
At this point, it almost envied the small evil spirit that Jeong Ga-yoon had taken.
If a person who had once died received evil in exchange for their life, things would actually be much easier.
What would be easy?
The evil spirits had originally been human.
They had died for various reasons and remained in this world because they had unresolved grudges.
As they remained in the living world and watched humans, a desire to become human again naturally began to grow inside them.
I want to live again.
I want to take over a human body, feel everything again, and live.
Unable to overcome that desire, evil spirits attached themselves to humans and lived through them.
All the while, they constantly sought opportunities to take over their bodies.
Communicating with a living human wasn’t easy, either.
With Baek Ga-yoon, they had tried various methods before finally discovering that they could communicate through the mirror.
But Jeong Ga-yoon had died once.
The connection between her body and soul was therefore weak enough that she should be able to communicate with evil spirits.
Furthermore, if she simply accepted the evil Jeong Ga-yoon gave her and continued growing stronger, she would soon be able to take over her human host’s body.
What a pity.
It was such a shame.
It had been just on the verge of taking over Baek Ga-yoon’s body itself.
To take over a living human’s body, it had to destroy that person’s soul.
And the most powerful method was murder.
By killing Jeong Ga-yoon this time, it had planned to take over Baek Ga-yoon’s body.
But now that opportunity had slipped away.
However, the chance wasn’t completely gone.
The evil spirit quietly looked down at Baek Ga-yoon, who was trembling anxiously while clutching the paternity test results.
Another opportunity will come.
The set of The Conditions of Inheritance continued running nonstop.
The final two episodes, Episodes 11 and 12, were scheduled to air that coming weekend.
In the meantime, Baek Ga-yoon had taken a day off because of the injuries on her face.
Since they had already filmed all the scenes that didn’t include Baek Ga-yoon, today was a day when she absolutely had to appear.
She was the lead actress, after all, and had a large amount of screen time.
It would be a huge problem if she simply refused to film.
With the drama nearing its conclusion, they had no choice but to coax and persuade her into filming.
Today’s filming location was a seminar room at a certain hotel.
When Baek Ga-yoon appeared at the set, Director Kang, the main director of The Conditions of Inheritance, greeted her with a smile.
“Oh, our leading lady. Is your face feeling a little better?”
“No. The swelling hasn’t gone down yet.”
Even though an actress young enough to be his daughter had cut him off mid-sentence, Director Kang laughed heartily despite cursing inwardly.
Although makeup had concealed the injuries, her skin was still visibly uneven.
“Hehehe. I’ll make sure to edit around it. Technology is pretty good these days, you know.”
Even without such technology, he had to coax and placate her for now.
As expected, the moment Director Kang promised to take special care with her, the stiffness in Baek Ga-yoon’s face visibly melted away.
“I’ll get ready and come out soon.”
Baek Ga-yoon answered primly before leaving the set and heading toward the waiting room.
The way she was escorted there made it look as though she were a VIP receiving a formal escort.
The coordinator carrying her costume hurriedly stepped aside with a bow, while her manager, who had gone ahead, opened the door for her.
“Hello, sunbae.”
At that moment, Jeong Ga-yoon opened the door of the waiting room across the hall and greeted her.
“……!”
Baek Ga-yoon’s eyes widened in shock.
She couldn’t take her eyes off Jeong Ga-yoon.
Jeong Ga-yoon also met Baek Ga-yoon’s gaze without looking away.
Baek Ga-yoon stared at Jeong Ga-yoon for a moment before wrinkling the tip of her nose and muttering,
“That’s right. I wanted to see it with my own eyes.”
Baek Ga-yoon strode forward and suddenly grabbed Jeong Ga-yoon by the throat with one hand.
“Hey! What are you doing?!”
Min-ji was horrified and immediately pulled Baek Ga-yoon away from Jeong Ga-yoon.
“Good grief… Hey, Baek Ga-yoon!”
Lee Jeong-han grabbed Baek Ga-yoon’s arm and pulled her back, his expression saying, She’s causing trouble again.
One of the staff members who had been rushing around preparing the set witnessed the scene and stopped in his tracks.
Still being held by Lee Jeong-han, Baek Ga-yoon raised only the corners of her lips and muttered,
“You really are alive?”
