Chapter 6
“Let’s hurry up and get rid of the body.”
Fidgeting with her mug, Baek Ga-yoon anxiously muttered the words while watching Geum Sa-ra.
Geum Sa-ra thought silently for a moment before shaking her head.
“No. We can’t do that.”
There was no way a dead person could come back to life, so the body would remain where it was, and someone would eventually find it.
But it couldn’t be someone from their side.
Going back there after circumstances had already emerged that could make them suspicious?
“It’d be the same as confessing, ‘I’m the culprit.’”
But they couldn’t simply leave the body there, either.
There would undoubtedly be plenty of Baek Ga-yoon’s skin and blood underneath Jeong Ga-yoon’s fingernails.
“We’ll have to use someone.”
Geum Sa-ra took out her phone.
It was a person she would rather not contact if possible, but this was an emergency where every second mattered.
And if it was this person, they would be able to take care of things without anyone knowing.
Saying she would step outside to make the call, Geum Sa-ra walked onto the balcony.
Baek Ga-yoon drank her hot chocolate while staring at her mother’s back.
Mom won’t abandon me as long as I’m her daughter.
Even if I killed someone.
She absolutely couldn’t give up her position.
How much anxiety had Jeong Ga-yoon’s very existence caused her all this time?
It felt refreshing, like finally getting rid of an aching tooth.
“Hehehe……”
Watching the slow currents of hot chocolate swirling inside her mug, Baek Ga-yoon secretly let out a laugh.
It was as though she didn’t feel the slightest weight from the fact that she had killed someone.
Behind Baek Ga-yoon, countless evil spirits writhed and surged.
After returning home, Ga-yoon washed her hands and checked the mirror again.
The time engraved on the back of her neck was visible.
The small shadow she had called an evil spirit had seeped into that area earlier.
Maybe it’ll answer if I call it?
“Hey. Shadow? Evil spirit?”
But there was no answer.
It had definitely been able to speak with her earlier.
“Hello? Are you listening?”
She rubbed and tapped around her collarbone, but there was no particular response.
Well, whatever…
It wasn’t like it was a genie in a lamp. It wasn’t going to pop out just because she rubbed the spot.
“Hmm.”
Ga-yoon let out a short sigh before leaving the bathroom and sitting on the living-room sofa.
Several scripts were spread across the low living-room table.
They were scripts that had been offered to her from various places after seeing her villainous performance in The Conditions of Inheritance.
Every single one was a villain role.
A week.
It was certainly longer than twelve hours, but she was still living with a one-week expiration date, so she needed to find her next project quickly.
After all, The Conditions of Inheritance had only two episodes’ worth of filming left.
Which project should I choose?
If I play an even more vicious role, will I get more than a week? A week feels a little stingy.
She looked through one script, then another, but all the roles were more or less similar to the one she was currently playing.
“What should I do?”
Even if the roles were similar, she had to accept one.
So this was the life she was going to live—earning another day’s worth of life instead of money, day by day.
A sigh escaped her.
A headache began to form, so Ga-yoon closed her eyes for a moment.
Perhaps because practicing had become part of her daily routine, the remaining scenes she had to film for The Conditions of Inheritance naturally surfaced in her mind.
One of the remaining scenes involved Na Yu-joo going to Lee Ha-yeon, tormenting her, and pushing the heroine from a high place.
“The roles are reversed in the drama.”
She suddenly wondered how Baek Ga-yoon would react when she discovered that she was still alive.
Baek Ga-yoon must think she was dead.
What would happen if they ran into each other on set?
Would she recoil in horror as though she’d seen a ghost?
Would she be terrified, then cautiously gauge the situation, only to shamelessly act as though nothing had happened?
I’m quite the mischievous one, aren’t I?
The fact that she wanted to watch the many expressions Baek Ga-yoon would make as she was crushed in various ways unfold right before her eyes made that clear.
At that moment, a black shadow suddenly flared up.
The evil spirit’s voice rang in her ears.
『Take revenge.』
Dark handprints left by Baek Ga-yoon appeared around her pale, slender neck.
“Urgh…!”
A burning, throbbing pain spread through her.
Reminding her that Baek Ga-yoon had already killed her once, the evil spirit whispered.
『How about loosening the wire?』
In the scene where she pushed Lee Ha-yeon from a high place, they could simply make it look like a wire accident.
It was an evil spirit that actively encouraged genuine wrongdoing.
It pretended not to hear me when I tried talking to it earlier…
“No.”
Even as cold sweat formed from the burning pain, Ga-yoon firmly cut off the evil spirit’s whisper.
But the evil spirit didn’t care.
『Why? Baek Ga-yoon killed you. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. You should pay her back in exactly the same way.』
The voice lowered conspiratorially, sounding almost childishly innocent.
『Want me to tell you something?』
Its voice was sweet, like it was trying to tempt her.
『If you kill her, all of her remaining lifespan will become yours!』
Baek Ga-yoon was the same age as Jeong Ga-yoon.
Unless something unusual happened, she would probably live for several more decades at least.
The evil spirit was saying that Ga-yoon could take all those remaining years for herself.
Ga-yoon hesitated.
The hand resting on her knee twitched.
Living with a predetermined date of death was a constant state of tension.
So—
Kill Baek Ga-yoon.
She wouldn’t even have to strangle her herself.
She only needed to loosen the wire.
It would simply be paying her back for what she had done.
And it wouldn’t be particularly difficult.
“Ha… This is driving me crazy.”
Jeong Ga-yoon squeezed her eyes shut.
The offer was tempting.
But she didn’t want to be manipulated.
“Get lost. I’ll handle it myself.”
You said we were supposed to coexist.
You’re parasitizing me, yet you’re trying to use me like a puppet?
If I take revenge, I’ll plan it and do it myself.
Then—
『Tch.』
The shadow that had been circling around her as though observing her disappeared after leaving behind a single remark.
『You’re not falling for it?』
Its grumbling voice faded away.
What is with this thing?
Ga-yoon couldn’t help letting out a hollow laugh.
She had thought it only sounded like a child, but it really did behave like one.
“……”
When the evil spirit stopped responding altogether, Ga-yoon abruptly stood up and walked toward the vanity in her bedroom.
Time continued to pass without change.
And there were no handprints left on the place that had been burning with pain.
Ga-yoon gently touched her spotless neck.
Ultimately, it had been an attempt to tempt her into killing someone, which was why she hadn’t fallen for it.
But if it had encouraged some wrongdoing that even she considered relatively minor, she might have been tempted.
“I need to be careful.”
There was something seductive about the evil spirit’s whispering voice, like a snake’s.
But she didn’t have anyone behind her who could cover up her crimes like Baek Ga-yoon did.
No.
Even if she did have someone like that—
Common sense and morality still dictate that I shouldn’t do something wrong.
She shook her head as though trying to throw off the temptation and repeatedly steeled her resolve.
“What? The body is gone…?”
Geum Sa-ra whispered into the phone, swallowing her voice.
Someone had taken the body first.
The color drained completely from Baek Ga-yoon’s face as she listened nearby.
A curse escaped her lips.
“Fuck. Did they say they searched properly?”
Perhaps Baek Ga-yoon’s voice was interfering with the call, because Geum Sa-ra repeatedly pressed her index finger to her lips and moved away.
Baek Ga-yoon followed her all the way.
“For now, okay. I understand. I’ll look into what happened again myself.”
The call ended without much more being said.
Baek Ga-yoon grabbed Geum Sa-ra with desperate hands and shook her.
“What did they say? Why is it gone? Huh?”
“Ha…”
Geum Sa-ra repeatedly brushed her short hair backward before explaining further.
“They said there were no signs that anyone had dragged it away. If someone had carried away an unconscious person, there should have been witnesses nearby. But they said there weren’t any witnesses either.”
After repeatedly muttering that it was strange, Geum Sa-ra turned toward Baek Ga-yoon.
“Are you sure she wasn’t still alive?”
“No! She wasn’t! I’m sure… I’m sure her breathing had stopped. It felt different! I know it did!”
Baek Ga-yoon trembled violently as though she were having a fit.
“Who was it? Who took the body? She was definitely dead. I killed her! I killed her!”
“Tsk! Quiet, quiet!”
No matter how spacious and soundproofed the CEO’s office was, this was still a company.
Geum Sa-ra smacked Baek Ga-yoon across the back, telling her to watch her mouth, then called for Lee Jeong-han, who had gone outside.
“Manager Lee!”
Lee Jeong-han, who had been waiting nearby, knocked on the CEO’s office door and entered.
“How’s the atmosphere at the set? What about Director Kang?”
“Well, he said the same thing as always. He’s pressuring us to schedule the next filming as soon as possible.”
The drama was already airing.
They had to be careful to ensure there were no delays or gaps in production.
“Did they film? What about the other actors?”
Geum Sa-ra had no intention of telling anyone that Baek Ga-yoon had killed Jeong Ga-yoon.
So she asked as indirectly as possible.
“I mean Ahn Ji-ho and Jeong Ga-yoon. They filmed first, right?”
At the same time, she held on to a single thread of hope.
If Jeong Ga-yoon had really died, surely the atmosphere on set wouldn’t be normal enough for people to casually discuss the next filming schedule.
Lee Jeong-han did not disappoint that hope and answered matter-of-factly.
“Yes. I heard Ms. Jeong Ga-yoon filmed first, then Mr. Ahn Ji-ho arrived and continued filming.”
“Jeong Ga-yoon filmed?”
When Geum Sa-ra asked again, Lee Jeong-han glanced briefly at Baek Ga-yoon before answering.
From the situation unfolding before him, he seemed to have realized that Baek Ga-yoon’s facial injuries were somehow connected to Jeong Ga-yoon.
He had also vaguely heard words like I’ll kill her coming from beyond the CEO’s office door.
“Yes. She finished filming and went home.”
At Lee Jeong-han’s firm answer, Baek Ga-yoon’s face twisted strangely.
