In This Life, I Want an Oscar, Not a Husband - Chapter 5

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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 5

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That evening, when I returned home, I received a text message.

[Ha Eun-rae. Congratulations on passing the audition. I’m truly delighted to work on this project with you ^^ I’ll send you the reading schedule and filming schedule soon.
If you have any questions before then, feel free to ask me, and for schedule-related matters, please contact the staff member you met earlier.]

When was the last time a film director treated me with such kindness….
I think this is the first time since that debt scandal?
Feeling a subtle mixture of emotions, I opened the Wiki page that had appeared earlier.

【Cohabitation with a Ghost】
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Horror
Director/Screenwriter: Je-gal Se-yeon
Cast: Ha Eun-rae, Seo Kyung-bin

It had changed.
My name gleamed, freshly updated.
There was something else that had changed.
The filming period and production details seemed to remain the same….

Awards: Under revision….
Audience count: Under revision….

Awards, huh.
I swallowed hard.
Was my presence in this production changing something?
And what if that something meant this film—one that originally wouldn’t have even received a Film Festival invitation—could win an award somewhere?
The thought made my heart feel like it would burst from my chest.
Truth be told, I harbored an unspoken dissatisfaction with my film debut.
My debut was a highly commercial work.
Though it succeeded at the box office, it was marred by excessive violence and numerous scenes of actresses undressing, sparking considerable controversy.
Of course, I was grateful simply to have debuted, but I’d often wondered what it would have been like if my ‘debut’ hadn’t been in such a film—
‘This time, I’m debuting with Je-gal Se-yeon’s work.’
An independent film, and I’m even the lead.
My career, my life—it was changing unmistakably.
I wanted to search my own name on Wiki, but that seemed impossible.

[You have 0 Search Tokens remaining.]

…Search tokens, then.
Based on the countless formulas of regression fiction, this was a ‘foreshadowing’.
It seemed like whenever an Achievement occurred, these came as rewards—
‘I have no idea what it means right now.’
And there was a more pressing problem staring me in the face.

[Actress. I’m sending you the revised script for 【Cohabitation with a Ghost】 before the changes. The director said he’ll be revising from page 42 onward, but I’m sending it anyway.]
[【Cohabitation with a Ghost】.pdf]

It was a text from Park Seo-woo.
I recalled Park Seo-woo’s updated Wiki page.
Without ‘search rights’, it seemed I could only see changes to Wiki if my actions caused them….
‘It looks like I can’t see it unless it’s a very direct change. Given that I can’t see my own Wiki.’
Had my acting performance really had such a profound impact on Park Seo-woo to cause such a direct change?
The thought lifted my spirits.
Of course, Park Seo-woo the person was still insufferable, but the fact that director Park Seo-woo approved of me was an enormous achievement as an actress.
An Oscar-winning director approved of me, after all.
‘And he even remembered me when we did interviews later.’
With that thought, a smile bloomed across my face.
It was right then, as I sat there grinning to myself.
“Eun-rae, what is it? Who are you texting with that you can’t wipe that smile off your face? Give it here. Let your unnie check.”
Someone’s hand playfully lunged toward my phone.
My housemate, Ye-reum.
This place was the ‘sanctuary’ of twenty-one-year-old Eun-rae, for reference.
After I’d scraped together enough for university tuition working part-time at a meat restaurant because there was no money to send me to college, it was the day my father took every last penny.
Completely losing my mind, I destroyed the house and left with nothing but my phone in hand.
And I made a call.

– …Hello?
“….”

A friend I’d been close with through high school.
To Kang Ye-reum, who I hadn’t contacted since passing the entrance exam for In-Seoul’s two-year costume design program, held back by some inexplicable inferiority complex.
I couldn’t even open my mouth, but Ye-reum suddenly told me to come to her studio apartment and rattled off the address.
And from that day on, we lived together.
‘Now that I think about it, I was so shameless.’
I was too young then to fully understand how much I owed Ye-reum.
‘Well, that wasn’t all I didn’t understand.’
I hadn’t listened to Ye-reum’s pleas to stop me from suddenly getting married after the scandal.

“I don’t think getting married when you’re struggling this much is the right call. Let’s watch a bit more to see what kind of person Do-un is… and the idea that marriage automatically means retirement….”
“Do-un is a good person. I’ll introduce you properly next time.”

At my words, Ye-reum clamped her mouth shut.
Faced with someone who seemed to have a screw loose, she’d simply lost for words.
‘After the deepfake scandal, I disappeared, and now I suddenly show up claiming I’m getting married. She must have found it absurd.’
Of course, we’d exchanged messages sporadically after the marriage, but the closeness we once shared as friends had evaporated.
There had been some friction between us.
Ye-reum’s ambitious Internet Shopping Mall venture had failed, leaving her drowning in debt, and I’d overstepped by insisting on paying it off, nearly getting myself cut off by her.

“Do I amuse you?”

Looking back now, I realized how many ways I’d lacked sensitivity.
Kang Ye-reum—this girl had quietly cheered me on every single time I was struggling.
Yet I’d failed to be that kind of friend to her.
Determined to be different this time, I extended my phone screen toward Ye-reum.
“Huh…? I thought he was a man. He is a man, but… what? What script did you get? Is someone asking you to appear in another short film?”
Kang Ye-reum asked, sounding somewhat disappointed.
“This one’s different. I’ll actually get paid, and we’re signing a formal contract.”
Once money starts coming in, I’ll need to pay Ye-reum her rent without fail.
Ugh… At twenty-one, why was I so shameless?
“What? So you’re really becoming an actress? You said you weren’t interested in acting. You even turned down a Talent Agency business card before.”
Ah.
A Talent Agency business card.
That’s right.
I remembered receiving a business card from a major Talent Agency while walking down the street around that time.
A name I could never forget.
Kanna.
My first Talent Agency and my last.
It was also a place that left me with unforgettable memories.
Later, after I got married, my manager Hong Jong-ho came to find me and told me something like this.

“Your contract was just about to end back then… That’s why the CEO gave Chul-hyun separate instructions. To keep you from entering the free agent market
(a state where an actor’s contract with their Talent Agency has expired and they can transfer)
I found out later. Once I learned about it, I quit Kanna. How about coming with me to Naru Stage right now?”

Shockingly, my debt scandal was a surprise event my talent agency had prepared for contract renegotiations.
At Ye-reum’s words, I pulled out Kanna’s business card that I’d carefully tucked into my wallet and crumpled it in my hand.
“What’s wrong with you? You were so excited about getting a casting offer…”
“Casting…?”
I looked at Ye-reum with a faint smile.
“Who’s casting me? My manager is the one doing the casting.”
With that, I shot to my feet.
Hong Jong-ho.
I’m coming for you, you bastard.

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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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