Chapter 24
Hye-young tossed her phone onto the seat beside her, the corners of her lips curling up at the answer she’d wanted to hear.
Ah, finally. That feels good.
There’s no way she’d come out worse than Kang Da-eun. Absolutely not.
“Still, what a shame.”
She’d wanted to shove Da-eun down the stairs earlier, but since she had to stop at imagining it, she was left unsatisfied. The girl had even impersonated her—there was no way she’d just let that slide.
Hye-young bit her nails hard, mulling over how to get back at her. She wanted some excuse—any excuse—for revenge.
“Ah… right. That’ll do.”
She didn’t even notice the skin tearing and blood welling up as she chewed. A sudden idea lit up in her head, and she smiled.
The blood-stained smile on her lips was nothing short of chilling.
A few days later, Da-eun arrived at the filming set of “We Must.”
“Actress Kang, here’s today’s script.”
Now that the drama had entered its mid-to-late phase, they were shooting day by day with freshly written script pages.
Receiving the day’s script, Da-eun began memorizing her lines, picturing the protagonist Uri’s situation and emotions in vivid detail.
Whenever something didn’t make sense, she called the writer right away to ask what it meant—what the emotional tone should be, how the story would wrap up toward the finale, and so on.
Writer Kim Hee-sook loved that about her.
“Da-eun, let’s eat first.”
Once she’d memorized enough and decided on her acting approach, Ha-jung brought over a heated lunch box.
After spending so much time together on set, the two had grown quite close.
“Thank you, unni.”
“Oh, please. It’s my job.”
As Da-eun set down her script and began eating the warm food, Ha-jung spoke excitedly.
“You haven’t seen the Run, People broadcast yet, have you?”
“Oh, right. How’s the response?”
Since the drama was airing, the episodes featuring Da-eun and Hye-young had been edited and released ahead of the rest.
“It’s not just good—it’s blowing up! Look at these.”
She sent Da-eun two links—short clips highlighting only Da-eun’s best scenes.
The first was footage from Yoo Hong-seok’s personal camera, filming Da-eun playing Hye-young.
The shot transitioned naturally from casual conversation to a rear view captured by Da-eun’s own camera.
The highlight was the moment the name tag reading Kang Da-eun came into frame.
└ Wow… insane. Even from Yoo Hong-seok’s POV cam, I was fooled.
└ Same. Thought she was the real No Hye-young. Got chills when the camera caught her from behind.
└ Watch the full episode—it’s even crazier. When Yoo Hong-seok spots her, her hair, expression, tone, and walk all change in an instant. Pure art.
└└ Need that link now pls 🙏
└└ It’s pinned in the comments.
└ Doesn’t she play twins in that drama too? I wasn’t going to watch, but now I have to!
The second video was the staircase scene with So-jin and Hye-young.
└ ??? How is this even possible?
└ Who is Kang Da-eun? She’s insane. I’ve replayed this like ten times.
└ The way she grabs the rail, jumps, lands, and runs—her form is movie-level. Give her an action film already!
└└ Yeah!! Her agency better wake up and work!
Hundreds of comments—and not a single negative one.
“Ahh! Even I’m getting hyped!”
Ha-jung shivered dramatically in delight, saying this was what made work fun. Da-eun laughed softly and finished her lunch.
After checking the links, she set her phone aside, but Ha-jung looked like she still had more to say.
“What is it, unni?”
“Hmm… I hesitated because it felt petty, but I’ll just say it.”
Ha-jung sat down beside her, opened YouTube, and showed her something on her phone.
“No Hye-young?”
“Yeah. She’s been getting a ton of short-form clips lately—kind of a media blitz. I heard it’s Director Bae’s orders.”
They were clips taken from We Must, plastered with captions praising Hye-young’s looks and acting.
Apparently, one out of every six or so shorts popping up lately was about her.
Some comments praised her acting and beauty—maybe bots, maybe hired accounts—while others scoffed, wondering what people saw in her at all.
“They’re pushing for viral marketing. We asked our promo team to step up too, but they just nodded and did nothing.”
Even if the directive came from CEO Bae Yong-seop, VP Hong Mu-seok’s influence was likely behind it.
Da-eun only nodded knowingly, and Ha-jung whispered,
“So, about that—do you have any social media accounts? We’re thinking of opening an official one and managing it for you. How about it?”
By “we,” she meant herself and Team Manager Moon Ki-jung.
“Oh, that sounds great!”
They were trustworthy people, so Da-eun agreed brightly. It was the perfect time to grow her following while public interest was high.
“Leave it to me. I’ll make sure your name blows up!”
Ha-jung clenched her fists with confidence.
Just then, a staff member knocked on the waiting-room door to announce the next shoot.
“Rolling in ten minutes!”
“Okay!”
Da-eun quickly covered her lunch, brushed her teeth, touched up her makeup, and got ready for filming.
While snapping photos of her preparations, Ha-jung was already planning how to expand the new SNS account to help actress Kang Da-eun shine.
⁂
That week’s episode of We Must would be the drama’s climax.
The story:
On the eve of Nari’s childbirth, her adoptive parents suddenly demanded her return to Korea.
Circumstances left Uri no choice but to pretend to be Nari and go home in her place.
Conflicted, Nari both hoped and feared her parents would see through the act.
But disappointingly, they believed Uri was their daughter without a hint of doubt.
Living the life of a chaebol’s only daughter, Uri began to desire Nari’s life for herself.
Barely restraining her overflowing envy, she found Nari’s adoptive parents pushing for an arranged marriage.
Though she understood a bit of Nari’s suffering as a doll-like heiress, Uri secretly mocked her—thinking the pressure was bearable, that with money you could buy anything, fix anything.
Food, education, even illness—money solved it all.
Then she thought of her own adoptive mother, who was gravely ill—and of the saying that love can’t be bought.
What good is love if it doesn’t feed you? she thought bitterly, yet decided to give up Nari’s life for her adoptive mother’s surgery.
She prepared for Nari’s extravagant wedding step by step, urging Nari to return soon—but Nari, now recovered from childbirth, delayed, saying she wanted to enjoy a little freedom before being tied down.
She told Uri, “My NYU graduation’s soon anyway. Use that as an excuse to come to New York. If my parents push for the wedding, you do it in my place—they’ll think you’re me, after all.”
But Uri coldly refused, citing her mother’s surgery and the end of their contract.
Then came Nari’s wedding day.
She never returned.
Uri donned the dress and walked the aisle in her stead.
At the same time, she learned her adoptive mother’s surgery had succeeded.
And beneath the chandelier’s glow, slipping on a ring she could never afford in real life, Uri’s trembling breath revealed the jealousy and greed consuming her.
If this blessed life felt suffocating, she thought, I could live it for you forever.
Her defiant expression—guilt buried under desire—filled the camera with breathtaking tension.
⁂
“Cut! Okay!”
Watching Da-eun’s expression work, Hye-young bit the inside of her cheek.
Director Shin clapped his hands, ecstatic. It made her skin crawl.
“Let’s take a short break before the next scene!”
He sounded completely satisfied.
The next shoot would be the scene where Nari, newly returned, furiously shoves Uri.
As they prepared, Hye-young planned to break Da-eun’s leg again—the one she’d once fractured before.
After all, they were playing twins!
If Da-eun got hurt, she’d volunteer to take over both roles. With how rushed the filming schedule was, Director Shin and Writer Kim would surely agree.
Would anyone really believe Da-eun just happened to slip on her own?
As she studied the props and layout of the next set, Hye-young’s lips twisted faintly.
