I Became My Ex-Boyfriend’s Concubine - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 1

“So, did you shoot?”
Dan Bi glared at the TV screen, hammering the joystick buttons without mercy.
The colorful monsters on screen took bullets and burst with sharp pops and bangs.
“So what happened? Huh?”
“What do you mean what happened? There’s nothing to happen.”
She pushed away her smug expression with her palm and clenched her teeth.
The memory still vivid in her mind made her mouth twist of its own accord.
“I killed them all.”
That much was a declaration of war, in her own way.

***

Thump, thump.
To the rhythm of grand music that filled her head, Dan Bi walked across the stage.
Amid fashion that reinterpreted Eastern aesthetics with trendy flair, the black sunglasses and bold red twin-piece suit stood out unmistakably.
“What?”
“Who is that?”
A low murmur rippled through the audience.
The reaction was expected. She wasn’t a model in this show, after all.
Cutting through the two rows of models, red stilettos climbed the runway against its flow, commanding every eye in the room.
Click-clack.
Scarcely had the hem of the short skirt vanished into the distance before the brilliant music and lights cut out all at once.
The silence that fell like a grave was shattered by a thunderous shout from beyond the curtain.
“What in the hell are you doing!”
The moment Dan Bi stepped into the Backstage, Manager Kang strode toward her with wide steps.
With a promotion at the cutting-edge fashion brand Neon Beauty looming, this show had become the most crucial stage of his career.
And then, in an instant, that promotion slipped right through his fingers. All because of one brat.
“Where on earth did you learn such lack of professional etiquette―.”
“Professional etiquette is something you show to someone ready to receive it.”
“What?”
Without sparing him a glance, Dan Bi walked straight toward the lined-up models.
More precisely, toward the ridiculous rags they were wearing.
She slowly swept her eyes over the models’ outfits from top to bottom. Yellow, pink, red, … neon yellow?
The tackiness of every color in creation dumped together made her laugh bitterly. A garbage can turned inside out would’ve looked better.
“Tch…….”
Barely suppressing the rage boiling up inside, she flicked her finger sharply toward the clothes.
“Take them off.”
The bewildered models looked toward Manager Kang for guidance. Dan Bi seized the shirt collar of the nearest model.
“My clothes. Take them off, I said.”
Only then did Manager Kang seem to grasp the situation, and he lowered his head shamefully. The forced smile on his face quivered pitifully.
“Team Lead, I’m sorry. If you could just bear with it until the end of this show…….”
“Manager. There’s one thing I can’t tolerate, no matter what else I let slide. Know what that is?”
At Neon Beauty, they called her “Team Lead Dan.”
She’d entered the fashion industry at a young age. With meteoric promotions, she became the youngest team lead―a top-tier talent in the current industry.
Dan Bi had always believed one thing.
The reason she’d climbed to these heights in one swift bound was none other than this filthy temper of hers.
“Crap. I can tolerate anything else, but I can’t tolerate crap.”
Everywhere the red stilettos passed, sharp fingernails grazed the fabric.
“Fittings that don’t match the body, accessories that murder the style, colors that go against the season.”
When the clicking sound stopped, the silence became deathly still.
“People came to see a luxury brand show, not a counterfeit show.”
“Hey!!”
Then a sharp voice pierced the air from somewhere in the distance. It was Ha Rin, her face flushed red, rushing forward frantically.
“What? A counterfeit show? Did you just say all that――!”
“Do you know why a luxury brand is a luxury brand? Because you can’t easily get it.”
Dan Bi’s gaze slowly swept down toward Ha Rin.
“You, common as dirt—you could never understand.”
“You……!”
Before she could speak, Dan Bi pinched her thumb and forefinger together, measuring out an invisible gap.
“Talent comes from this—this single, hairline difference.”
Through that narrow space, Ha Rin’s eyes darted wildly, panic-stricken.
“You can steal my clothes, cross out my name all you like. Think that’ll make a counterfeit like you into a luxury brand?”
Dan Bi looked down at Ha Rin’s trembling fists, said nothing more, and adjusted her sunglasses before turning away without hesitation.
“The show’s over. Actually, it never really started.”
The crowd around her parted like the Red Sea in her wake. Then Ha Rin rushed forward and grabbed Dan Bi’s shoulder roughly.
“Hey, you stay right there!”
Dan Bi’s hand plunged into her clutch bag. Something with a good grip caught perfectly in her palm.
She pulled it out and aimed it at Ha Rin in one smooth motion.
A colorful plastic object, gleaming in her grip.
It was a water gun.
Without hesitation, she squeezed the trigger—and water burst from the nozzle, landing squarely on Ha Rin’s face.
This had happened only a few hours ago.

***

“Hahahaha! Hey, that’s totally game over, right?”
Dan Bi watched her friend Som convulse with laughter on the couch and let out a wry sigh.
“Game over? And you work at a game company? You don’t even know that?”
“Know what?”
Just then, a massive monster appeared on the TV screen. At the sight of that majestic form, draped in every color imaginable, Dan Bi gripped the joystick tightly.
“There’s still one left.”

—Defeat the King

A new mission appeared on screen in blood-red lettering. Dan Bi’s eyes narrowed with focus as she stared down the monster.
“It’s not over until the king falls.”

***

Just as Dan Bi was wielding the water gun enthusiastically, someone grabbed her shoulder from behind.
She turned to see a familiar face looking down at her quietly—eyes that remained unmoved even as everything fell apart. That cold gaze was still the same.
“Team Lead Yeo. Can we talk for a moment?”
Hyun—the man she’d once believed would always be on her side.
Dan Bi followed him to a corner of the backstage area and opened the door marked “Staff Room.”
Hyun stood facing her, both hands in his pockets.
His eyes were frozen cold. That chill ran down the back of her neck, making it stiffen.
“Is this funny to you?”
“Funny? Do I look like I’m joking right now?”
“Doesn’t everyone?”
Following his gaze downward, she saw the colorful water gun in her hand. Dan Bi quickly hid it behind her back.
‘I can’t lose this. I didn’t do anything wrong here.’
“You know how hard I’ve worked preparing for this show. And now you’re just throwing it away like—”
“I agreed to it.”
“……What?”
“I agreed. To taking your name off.”
Her heart plummeted to her feet.
“Is that true?”
Hyun said nothing after that. In his silence, Dan Bi felt the truth of it settle over her.
‘How could you……!’
She stepped toward him and grabbed him by the collar. A large diamond ring sparkled on her left ring finger.
“Tell me that’s not true! Answer me!”
Still silence from Hyun. Dan Bi’s hand slowly fell away.
“Do you know what today is?”
Her head dropped, and tears began to fall, one by one, onto the floor.
“It’s our eighth anniversary. You said we’d go somewhere nice after the show. And it was really you who took my name off?”
Dan Bi lifted her head suddenly.
In one swift motion, she pointed the gun at him. And the moment her trembling finger pulled the trigger,
Pssshhh.
The water shot forward for an instant, then dropped straight down.
Dan Bi pulled the trigger again, her face flushed with panic. But from the barrel came only a weak dribble of water.
“Ugh.”
That familiar sigh made her entire body go rigid. Dan Bi lowered the gun slowly, unable to lift her head.
Hyeon passed quietly by her side.
“I guess that settles our score for today, then?”
Bang—the sound of the door slamming echoed loudly through the room.

***

—Game Over

“Aaahhhhh!!”
Dan Bi let out a wail and collapsed face-first onto the sofa.
On the screen, a pompous final boss towered over her character, crushing it mercilessly.
Som glanced sideways at Dan Bi and clicked her tongue. Her eyes were heavy with barely concealed contempt.
“You don’t know how to play a proper game. Look, every game worth playing has a strategy. You’re supposed to find each boss’s weakness and exploit it relentlessly—you can’t just waltz in showing off your own weak points.”
“Strategy?”
“Right. Every character has a weakness, and you focus your efforts on attacking that. What happens when you just keep showing off your own vulnerabilities?”
Som placed a hand on Dan Bi’s shoulder and squeezed slowly. It was impossible to tell if it was comfort or interference—either way, there was weight behind it.
“Why bring up your anniversary like that? All it does is make you look like a whining girlfriend crying about how hurt you are.”
“A weakness? What does that even mean?”
“You should know. You’ve been together for eight years—how can you not know something that basic?”
“…I don’t know.”
“What?”
“I don’t know, I have no idea! Why is he suddenly treating me like this?”
Som shook her head and slung her bag over her shoulder.
“Don’t torture yourself like this. She didn’t do it for no reason, did she? Those eight years didn’t just slip away.”
Dan Bi started to say something, then closed her mouth instead. Somehow, even though Som was nattering on endlessly under the guise of comfort, Dan Bi felt oddly grateful.
“When the new game comes out soon, I’ll send it over. Just play that and blow off some steam.”
She waved goodbye to Som as she stepped out through the entrance, and as her footsteps faded down the corridor, a familiar voice drifted back to her ears.

“I agreed too. To dropping your name.”

Without thinking, Dan Bi’s fingers stabbed at her phone’s keypad. Soon eleven digits appeared on the screen—Hyeon’s phone number.
Should she call, or shouldn’t she? Her trembling hand hovered over the call button.
She was still deliberating when,
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
Someone was hammering at the entrance door with sudden, violent intensity. Dan Bi’s head snapped up.
‘What is this…?’
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
Before she could even process the situation, the fierce knocking struck the door again. Dan Bi rose from her seat half-startled.
“W-who is it?”
In that moment, one face came suddenly to mind.

“Those eight years didn’t just slip away.”

“Could it be… Hyeon? Is that you?”
Dan Bi hurried toward the door. With a metallic click, she pushed the handle forward and the door began to open slowly.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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