In This Life, I Want an Oscar, Not a Husband - Chapter 23

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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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This life, I choose The Oscars over a husband.
Chapter 23

And that was the moment.
Something tumbled down beside the girl with a soft thud.
The girl turned her head.
‘Yes, beautiful.’
My finger pressed the capture button before I could think.
I never imagined I’d end up screenshotting another actor while watching Million X’s music video.
‘Why is she so gorgeous? What cosmetics is she wearing? Can we switch to color already!’
But such thoughts vanished in an instant.
The camera panned across the mysterious ‘something’ that had fallen beside the girl, starting from the feet.
Then came the full shot.
Rowen landed there, and the girl looked up at him.
Life suddenly flickered in the girl’s eyes, which had seemed so weary and bored.
Rowen grinned and spoke.

Rowen’s English pronunciation, hailing from England, was flawless.
‘Insane….’
Once again, the capture moments came relentlessly.
And from Rowen’s blue eyes, color gradually bloomed across the screen.
The girl’s eyes wavered, but only for a moment.
The girl passed by Rowen, her expression returning to that familiar apathetic gaze.
Shoving a cigarette pack into her bag as she went.
Yet the girl’s bag carried a small trace left behind by Rowen’s descent.
A single blue petal.
As the girl passed, the other students stepped aside.

【What is this.】
【Isn’t that her? The third-year rugby captain and….】
【Even the math teacher….】

Amidst the whispers of the children, the girl opens her cabinet without a word.
Exhausted. Resigned.
As if she’d heard such things a thousand times before.
‘What is this? It’s way more cinematic than I expected…!’
In fact, it was that actress who was actively driving the film-like atmosphere.
Each frame she captured transformed what could have been an awkward American high school concept into something with the gravitas of serious cinema.
And the moment the girl closes her cabinet, Baek Tae-ho appears.
The visual member of the band, impeccably dressed, extends something toward her.

【We’re recruiting band members right now, and you too….】

The girl takes it.
With eyes devoid of focus.
And leans her head against the cabinet.
In that moment, a decadent beauty emanates.
Every strand of hair cascading down feels like pure acting.
The woman watching the music video didn’t even realize she was concentrating—she was completely absorbed in the screen.

【Do you want to try doing something with me?】

The girl’s head tilts to one side.
Then she gives Baek Tae-ho’s shoulder a light push with her finger and laughs.

【I’m expensive.】

A face playing at cynicism.
Why does she shift from inflicting wounds to wearing the expression of one who’s been wounded?
The woman unconsciously covered her mouth.
‘Sister… what kind of life have you lived….’
At some point, she stopped capturing screenshots.
Just then, Han Yoo-yang appears and taps Baek Tae-ho’s shoulder, saying something.

【What?】
【No, I was asking if you’d do our band with me… Never mind, let’s just go.】

As Baek Tae-ho turns away, Han Yoo-yang turns with him and glances at the girl.
In that moment, their eyes meet.
Han Yoo-yang flashes a smile and calls out.

“Listen to our song too!”

As if on cue, the music began.

“You know it too. When our eyes met, you were drawn in as well.”

‘Damn it…!’
And then came the dance sequence in the Band Practice Room.
The music video had barely passed the one-minute mark, yet she was completely entranced.
Her heart was pounding so hard that she paused the video and sent a message to her classmates’ group chat on K-talk.

I’m just now watching the music video because of my final project, and Million X’s new music video is insane. Is this a movie?! Wow… the actress’s vibe is crazy too. She’s wearing an oversized sweatshirt and gets bullied—a wounded loner girl? I’m losing it.

Her classmates who were Million X fans responded with similar reactions.
And below that, her most devoted fan classmate sent a message.

Class of XX, Kang Ye-reum
(Star Instagram link)
Class of XX, Kang Ye-reum
Isn’t this the actress’s SNS? She seems like a rookie. You should check it out. I think she’s going to do well in the future.

It was an unusually composed message.

* * *

– I love this scene so much that I keep watching it. I feel like there are only two people left in this worldㅠㅠ ‘You don’t have to love me. ‘My world is just you.’ If you know these lyrics, it seems like they apply to both of them.
└ That interpretation is insane.
└ I think the same thing. Million X is the savior who entered the girl’s devastated life, and the girl is the light that entered Million X’s world.
I’m crying so hard.

Clips and videos circulated endlessly across SNS, not just YouTube.
Reactions were particularly enthusiastic about the narrative that unfolded as the female lead became directly entangled with MillionX.
‘Sigh… she’s my friend, but she’s so beautiful.’
Kang Ye-reum captured screenshots diligently, watching the female lead on her phone—Ha Eun-rae, that is.
In the video, Eun-rae was fighting with a middle-aged man.
As the man gripped Eun-rae’s wrist and shook her, she collapsed to the ground.
With her face marked by cuts and bruises, Eun-rae looked upward.
Her eyes held nothing but malice.
“Wow… her face is insane here. Unnie, please get out of that house…”
Hearing Kang Ye-reum’s words, Eun-rae scrunched up her face beside her and spoke.
“Um…”
“Don’t talk to me. I’m concentrating right now.”
“Okay.”
Kang Ye-reum spoke firmly, and Eun-rae immediately deflated.
Her face turned completely red.
Having a close friend react like this made her want to go crazy.
By the way, the setting of the female lead being abused was something Min Se-ye had suddenly added.

“The way you presented yourself at the audition was so good. So I decided to change things a bit.”

I had no reason to dislike it since my screen time was increasing, but what about MillionX? What about LP Entertainment?

“The members said they really liked the revised synopsis.”

…Ah, so the heroine must be pushed into even more extreme circumstances for the male lead to shine brighter. Such calculated storytelling.
It was fortunate, though.
Thanks to it, I gained more scenes where I could truly showcase my acting.
Especially the scenes depicting the wounds from my adoptive parents’ abuse.
‘I understand it now.’
The scars embedded deep within my heart, yet simultaneously, they became nourishment for my craft.
‘How ironic.’
That every hardship in life becomes the foundation for acting.
That even in despair, there is something to be gained.
In my previous life, drowning in hopelessness and believing everything was ruined, I never learned this lesson.
Because of it, even I could see that the scenes came out perfectly in terms of performance.
“Ugh! Sister… you’re finally smiling.”
Regardless, Ye-reum was completely absorbed in the music video.
How many times was she watching a video over four minutes long?
And why did it look new to her every time she watched it?
In the music video, when Ma-in, a MillionX member, accidentally witnesses Eun-rae being beaten, he grabs her hand and they escape to a warehouse.
It was the same place where the MillionX members had been dancing earlier.
The Band Practice Room.
Inside, Eun-rae smiles brightly at the singing and dancing displayed by MillionX.
The sight of Eun-rae smiling with a scab clinging to her lip was so innocent that it moved the hearts of those watching.
Then the final member, PH, appears and hands Eun-rae ointment and a bandage.
He was the arrogant one who had been subtly dismissing Eun-rae all along.

– PH really suits the arrogant character type.
If you look closely, PH was constantly looking at the female lead. He’s a tsundere.

Eun-rae accepts the bandage and makes a peculiar expression.

You don’t need to say anything to me. This is just my feeling. I’ll give you the freedom not to love me. You just need to give me your gaze.

As the rhythmic lyrics play, montage scenes are inserted showing five men approaching Eun-rae, who had always been a loner at school.
Rowen, who takes the cigarette pack Eun-rae was holding and throws it away, then gives her candy instead.
Baek Tae-ho, who posts the photo they took in the practice room on the cabinet and leaves.
Han Yoo-yang, who teaches Eun-rae guitar while laughing together with her.
Ma-in, who grabs Eun-rae’s hand and runs when she’s being beaten by her adoptive father.
PH, who encounters Eun-rae wearing high heels from working at the club, and hands her his sneakers before leaving.
In all those moments, the female lead displays a smile different from before.
But that smile doesn’t last long.

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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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