The Chaebol Family’s Youngest Daughter Doesn’t Hide Her Acting Skills - Chapter 54

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 54

 

***

 

Even before filming resumed, Ju Sae-i looked precarious.

 

Her pale face, her eyes losing focus. Dojehyeon couldn’t take his gaze away from that sight. No, to be precise, he was seeing an overlap.

 

Long ago, in a hospital room reeking of disinfectant…

 

‘Jehyeon, our youngest.’

 

His one and only older sister who had slowly died.

 

His sick sister’s hospital bills couldn’t be covered by their parents’ income. To earn money, his parents made Jehyeon a children’s clothing model.

 

Being a good child, Jehyeon would cry when the men behind the cameras told him to cry, and smile when they told him to smile.

 

Luckily meeting decent projects after his debut, his acting soon became his sister’s lifeline.

 

‘Jehyeon. I hope the day comes when you act not because of family, but by your own will.’

 

Stroking Jehyeon’s cheek with her gaunt, dried hand, his sister said this.

 

‘Whenever I see you acting, Jehyeon, I feel so, so sad.’

 

His sister had dreamed of being an actress. Perhaps that’s why. While everyone praised his acting, she alone felt sorry for him.

 

His sister’s wish was never fulfilled. She closed her eyes without seeing Jehyeon act by his own will.

 

Dojehyeon’s world stopped there. He believed a day when he’d act for joy would never come in his lifetime.

 

Trusting his natural talent, he thought his lot was to mechanically deliver lines, earn money, and hear empty praise.

 

…Until he met Ju Sae-i.

 

That girl was strange.

 

One year older than him. A woman the same age as his deceased sister.

 

Her foolishness of caring for others while trembling soaked in rain, her recklessness of charging forward saying she’d act – these kept reminding him of his sister.

 

His stubborn behavior of calling Ju Sae-i “hey, you” when she asked to be called older sister was his last defense mechanism.

 

‘Sister, what should I do.’

 

Dojehyeon clenched his fist tight. His nails dug into his palm.

 

‘I thought in my life, there would only ever be one older sister who was just one year older than me until she died…’

 

If she had been the complete opposite image, he might have given Sae-i the older sister treatment she wanted. Other actors in their twenties had called him that.

 

But the two were too similar. He was afraid he might overwrite his sister in his heart with Sae-i.

 

The moment he called her older sister as Sae-i wished, he feared his sister in his memories would fade. That felt like a betrayal to his sister, so he hesitated again and again.

 

On the stone stairs, Sae-i, no ‘So Ji-min’ delivered her lines with tears.

 

“…I’ll handle it. Please let me handle it.”

 

Thump. His heart sank. Though it was a line from the script, why did it sound like words directed at him?

 

That was the moment.

 

Sae-i’s foot slipped on the rain-soaked moss.

 

If she falls like this, she’ll get seriously hurt…

 

Just as Dojehyeon wondered if he should throw himself forward.

 

He felt something behind his back. Wind? Or was it his imagination… A strange yet familiar sensation, as if someone was pushing his back with all their might.

 

[Go, Jehyeon.]

 

For a moment he heard a hallucination. In his sister’s clear voice.

 

It was definite permission. Don’t hesitate, do as your heart tells you. It felt like his sister had pushed his back.

 

Only then, as if his shackles were released, Dojehyeon kicked off the rainy ground and leaped out.

 

He had to catch Sae-i. He couldn’t bear to see her end up like his sister who had to be confined to a hospital room.

 

Reaching his arms toward Sae-i’s body falling through the air, Dojehyeon released the word he had kept sealed away.

 

“Older Sister…!”

 

Feeling the body temperature of Sae-i whom he’d caught in his arms, Dojehyeon finally realized.

 

That his sister had sent him to a new world. That the name of that world was Ju Sae-i.

 

***

 

Rough breathing hit his ears.

 

Dojehyeon was still gripping Sae-i’s shoulders tightly as if they might break. His heart was beating violently.

 

If I had been even a little late. If this girl had tumbled down these hard stone stairs.

 

Just imagining it sent chills down his spine. As his fear subsided, what filled its place was boiling anger.

 

“Hey.”

 

Dojehyeon gritted his teeth and growled.

 

“Are you an idiot?”

 

“…Huh?”

 

“You can’t even watch your footing properly and step there? What would have happened if I hadn’t caught you. Not just an idiot, really…”

 

He deliberately snapped more harshly. It was to hide his startled heart.

 

Sae-i just blinked her eyes while held in Dojehyeon’s arms. Her face was dazed, the shock not yet faded.

 

“…What did you just say?”

 

“I asked if you’re an idiot. Clumsily falling over like that.”

 

“No, before that.”

 

Sae-i’s gaze persistently bored into Dojehyeon’s eyes.

 

“You definitely said ‘older sister’ just now…”

 

“…!”

 

Dojehyeon’s body stiffened with a start. Only then did the words he’d unconsciously uttered flash through his mind.

 

The title he hadn’t wanted to let out. His gaze hurriedly fled to the air.

 

His lost hand restlessly gripped and released Sae-i’s forearm. He could feel his ear tips burning red.

 

“…You must have heard wrong.”

 

“No way. I definitely heard it.”

 

“Ah, really.”

 

Dojehyeon bit his lower lip in dismay.

 

There was nowhere left to escape. With a ‘whatever’ attitude, he bluntly said.

 

“So what, can’t I say older sister?”

 

“…”

 

“You’re one year older than me. So you’re an older sister. What’s the big deal about that.”

 

He tried to act nonchalant and cool as much as possible, but his voice trembled greatly.

 

Sae-i seemed momentarily speechless at the unexpected answer. He thought she’d shout and deny it again.

 

Unable to bear the embarrassment, Dojehyeon loosened his arms.

 

“Whatever. If you’re not hurt, just get up quickly. People are watching.”

 

He spoke curtly while trying to separate Sae-i from his embrace. But.

 

‘…Huh?’

 

The sensation touching his fingertips was strange. An alien temperature he hadn’t noticed due to tension suddenly hit him.

 

Ju Sae-i’s body was hot. Too high to be human body temperature.

 

Then, the director came running urgently from far away.

 

“Sae-i! Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

 

Staff members also crowded around, murmuring. Though it was a momentary accident, since it could have led to a major accident, the atmosphere on set seemed frozen solid.

 

The director examined Sae-i’s condition and let out a sigh of relief.

 

“Wow, I really aged ten years. Thank goodness Jehyeon was quick. Sae-i, nothing’s sprained? Can you get up?”

 

“Director, I’m fine…”

 

Sae-i tried to pull herself together and shakily attempted to stand up. It was instinct not to ruin the filming.

 

“…Hey, Older Sister.”

 

“Huh, huh? Why…”

 

“Why is your body so hot.”

 

Dojehyeon asked in a sunken voice.

 

Her complexion pale beyond pale to deathly white, her parched lips, and the hot fever mixed in every breath she exhaled.

 

[I got caught in the rain last time and my body was all shivery ㅠㅠ I guess I’m getting old]

 

[You’re not at that age yet, are you]

 

[There are things you don’t know…]

 

[LOL just go to sleep, we have filming tomorrow]

 

The messages they’d exchanged in passing fit together like a puzzle in Jehyeon’s mind. A few days ago she said her body felt chilly after getting rained on, and clearly.

 

In the midst of all that, today she ran around causing that commotion to distribute raincoats. While putting an umbrella over him, she got rain all over her own face.

 

“Has she been like this the whole time?”

 

“Just… I’ve been feeling a bit chilly lately.”

 

“Are you out of your mind?”

 

Dojehyeon shouted angrily. The startled director’s eyes widened.

 

“I’m feeling a little under the weather…”

 

“This isn’t just ‘a little under the weather’! Your body is burning up!”

 

To think she tried to endure the rain, perform that emotional scene, and even climb the stone stairs in this condition.

 

“You’re not just stubborn, you’re really…!”

 

Sae-i, who had reached her limit, let her head fall weakly onto Dojehyeon’s chest.

 

As the tension finally broke, the high fever she had been suppressing hit her all at once.

 

“…Oh my, Sae-i!”

 

With the director’s scream, Dojehyeon quickly caught Sae-i as she collapsed.

 

Powerless Ju Sae-i. Ju Sae-i groaning in pain. The memory of his sick older sister came flooding back, making his breathing gradually quicken.

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