Chapter : 02
As soon as Sojin arrived home, she collapsed onto the sofa.
She hated having too many unnecessary thoughts, so she picked up her phone. She just wanted to forget everything.
To lift her mood, she opened a short-form drama app.
It was perfect for watching without having to think about anything.
She scrolled through the list, choosing a drama to watch. Then, a short-form drama that was ranking high suddenly caught Sojin’s eye.
<Shh! In Progress>
Without hesitation, Sojin clicked on the drama.
She turned on the continuous-play mode that automatically moved from one short to the next and stared blankly at the drama.
The male lead in the short-form drama was Dohyun. His fiancée, Sera, grabbed hold of him.
Sera’s eyes were filled with obsession toward the male lead, Dohyun.
But to Dohyun, his fiancée was nothing more than a villain who had tormented the woman he loved.
Dohyun coldly shook Sera’s hand off.
“I don’t want to waste any more time. And I don’t want Team Leader Son to misunderstand me. I’ll be the one to break off the engagement.”
“No. You’re my fiancé! Why can’t I? Why can Team Leader Son, but I can’t, even though I’m your fiancée?!”
“Don’t compare yourself to her. It’s disgusting enough that you even call Team Leader Son by her name.”
This was the charm of short-form dramas. A male protagonist who only had eyes for the female lead, and justice prevailing over evil.
“Serves her right. She bullied the female lead so much…”
“Team Leader Son.”
“…You have a fiancée, and you’re still doing this to me?”
“I broke off the engagement. I also told her that all of my love belonged to you.”
“…….”
“So don’t push me away anymore.”
Liking the drama, Sojin turned on continuous-play mode once more and let it run.
Her eyelids drooped as if they were about to close, only to open again and again.
Unable to fight off her heavy eyelids, Sojin eventually fell asleep.
At the moment she fell into a deep sleep, the short-form drama that had been playing automatically suddenly stopped.
For a brief moment, a scene of Dohyun smiling at someone remained frozen on the screen like a painting.
As the silence continued, Dohyun’s brightly smiling expression suddenly turned cold.
His frozen gaze moved toward something.
Toward a painting of flowers placed in one corner of Sojin’s living room.
Soon afterward, the short-form drama began skipping forward on its own.
At an abnormal speed.
“Who are you to the team leader…….”
“What if you make a mistake like this…….”
“I really like the team leader…….”
The lines mixed together like discordant sounds, producing a bizarre noise.
The Shorts screen, which had been racing forward like crazy, crackled with static before suddenly stopping at one particular moment.
At the scene where the fiancée called Dohyun out and threatened him using their marriage as leverage.
“We’ve already been engaged for several years.”
At that moment, the face of the fiancée, Sera, instantly changed into Sojin’s face.
As if the actress had been replaced.
“Marry me next month.”
A confession that sounded like a declaration of war.
“Because I’ve fallen for you.”
The moment Sojin, who had been lying on the sofa, disappeared as if she had faded away, the fiancée’s sharp voice rang out.
“You don’t want to? Just a bastard child like you.”
The vicious insult continued, mixed with a cold sneer.
“If you don’t marry me, Chairman Kang won’t acknowledge you. You’ll regret rejecting me!”
Sojin slowly opened her eyes.
As her blurry vision gradually cleared, the sight of an upscale restaurant came into view.
Sojin’s eyes widened.
“……!”
She abruptly stood up and hurriedly looked around.
What? I was definitely… at home……?
Then, Sojin suddenly noticed what she was wearing.
A short black dress that clung tightly to her body. When she saw how deeply the dress revealed her chest, she hurriedly wrapped the shawl around herself.
“This is crazy…… Is this a dream? I’ve never had such a ridiculous dream before.”
Just as Sojin absentmindedly tried to stand up, her knee suddenly buckled on its own.
Then, a white flower pattern bloomed on her wrist.
My body won’t move……!
Sojin hurriedly pinched her thigh. A small bruise appeared on her thigh.
Ouch! Why does it hurt if this is a dream……? What is going on?
Just as she was wondering whether she should slap herself, a soft, low voice reached her ears.
“Why did you call me?”
Sojin immediately raised her head. Her mouth fell open.
He was well over 180 centimeters tall, with a sharp jawline, piercing eyes, and well-defined features. And beneath his eye was a beauty mark.
He was the actor who played the male lead in <Shh! In Progress>.
She had actually encountered the male lead from the drama she had been watching before falling asleep……!
This was definitely a dream. Otherwise, there was no way she would ever encounter that male actor.
Sojin felt relieved inwardly and spoke to him.
“Uh, um……. You’re the male lead from <Shh! In Progress>, right?”
Dohyun’s expression immediately twisted. What nonsense was this woman talking about?
“What are you talking about?”
“Wow, this is amazing. I actually get to see the male lead in my dream. You’re really handsome.”
“Ha……. Did you call me here just to say this kind of nonsense? Even going so far as to threaten me?”
“What? Threaten you?”
What is he talking about right now?
Dohyun let out a mocking laugh and looked at Sojin as if she were pathetic, as though telling her to stop pretending she didn’t know.
Then he threateningly approached Sojin. He roughly grabbed her chin.
“Do you think I’m some kind of doll that comes whenever you tell me to come and leaves whenever you tell me to go?”
“Why are you acting like this……!”
“Don’t call me again for something this ridiculous. If you call me again, I don’t know what I might do.”
Sojin coldly pushed Dohyun’s hand away.
At that moment, a strange keyboard sound suddenly rang in her ears. She instinctively covered her ears.
Strange words appeared in front of Sojin.
[Fiancée: We’ve already been engaged for several years.]
In the center of the white flower on Sojin’s wrist, the words ‘0%’ also appeared.
Soon, the letters began to glow white.
Just as Sojin reflexively scanned the words with her eyes, her mouth suddenly began moving on its own.
“We’ve already been engaged for several years.”
Sojin hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand. But she couldn’t stop her moving lips.
“Marry me next month. Because I’ve fallen for you.”
Sojin’s face flushed bright red.
She wanted to say that she hadn’t said those words, but her mouth wouldn’t move.
It was as if she was being prevented from saying anything except the ‘predetermined lines.’
Dohyun’s expression twisted frighteningly.
“So, you’re finally showing your true colors. Marry you? Unless I’ve gone insane, that’s never going to happen.”
[Fiancée: Ha! You don’t want to? Just a bastard child like you.]
Sojin’s pupils shook violently.
Anything but this!
She struggled desperately to bite her tongue, but it was useless.
In the end, cold words escaped her mouth.
“Ha! You don’t want to? Just a bastard child like you.”
I’m crazy, I’m really crazy!
Her heart pounded furiously.
She had never said anything this rude in her entire life.
Dohyun’s expression had now become completely cold. He stared at Sojin with eyes filled with contempt.
Contrary to Sojin’s wishes, more and more rude words continued to pour from her mouth.
“If you don’t marry me, Chairman Kang won’t acknowledge you. You’ll regret rejecting me!”
“Think whatever you want. No matter how desperately you struggle, I’m never going to marry you.”
There wasn’t even any contempt left in Dohyun’s eyes toward Sojin now.
He simply regarded her as something insignificant.
He firmly turned his back on Sojin.
Sojin plopped down into the chair as she watched the man walk away.
Her legs trembled, and her hands shook.
The percentage on Sojin’s wrist rose from 0% to 5%.
“M-My mouth moved on its own…….”
The dialogue window quietly disappeared, as if it had never existed in the first place.
Sojin hurriedly left the restaurant.
The tall, fancy heels felt awkward, so she walked down the street with an unsteady gait.
After walking absentmindedly for a while, Sojin frowned and rubbed her heel.
“Ouch……”
Blood stained her fingertips.
Even at a glance, it was obvious that her skin had been scraped.
She tried walking again, but the wound kept rubbing against the shoe and continued to hurt.
It’s not like I’ve ever worn shoes like these before.
Sojin sighed and took off the heels without the slightest hesitation.
Holding the shoes in one hand, she walked barefoot down the street while looking around.
Huge buildings, bars, and banks she had never seen before.
It was similar to her world, yet strangely different.
And then there was Dohyun’s appearance, the male protagonist.
The question Could it be……? lingered in her mind, but she forcibly swallowed it down.
“What was that earlier…….”
The lines she had definitely seen in the short-form drama had appeared in midair.
And she had been forced to say those lines.
“……It said ‘fiancée,’ didn’t it?”
She wanted to believe it was a dream, but if it was merely a dream, there was no way to explain the throbbing pain in her heel.
At that moment, a luxurious black sedan smoothly came to a stop beside Sojin.
It remained there with its hazard lights blinking.
