Escape From the Daytime Drama

Chapter 3

The man in front of me, with his innocent, handsome face crinkled into a gentle smile, was none other than Park Eunwoo, the male supporting role in this daytime drama. Han Seori never actually told him to donate his organ, but in the end, he gave it up out of love and eventually met his death. He was so devoted to Seori, it was absurd.

Park Eunwoo was a popular character among viewers for the way he could be so boundlessly tender to Seori, while cold and uninterested in every other woman. I’d heard that, at the time, the actor who played Eunwoo was every advertising agency’s top choice for their brand ambassador.

Although I must say, the Park Eunwoo in this world was much better-looking, sexier, and fitter than that actor. If they cast an actor who looked like this man here for the remake, I’d bet there would be petitions to make him the male lead instead. Frankly, Cha Yebin was a bit of a loser despite being the male lead. Park Eunwoo was always a much more beloved character.

“Anyway, what are you doing here, Mr. Park?”

“I heard something happened to you, so I came to check on you because I’m worried. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Oh… no. I appreciate your concern, but I’m fine. You should head back.”

“While I’m here, why don’t you have coffee with me? Can’t you spare some time for your fiancé?”

After a pause, I replied, “I suppose I can.”

The plot of the drama was going smoothly as written, but why was Eunwoo acting this way?

I’m pretty confident I’ve been playing the role of Cha Yeryeon to perfection. What did I do wrong? Why on earth is he like this?!

“I can’t remember the last time we were together, just the two of us,” he said. “Let’s go.”

I’d thought that radiant, warm smile of his was reserved only for Han Seori. Why was he flashing it at me?

“Uh… right.”

As Eunwoo led the way with a spring in his step, all the women passing by did a double take, mesmerized by his beauty. On the other hand, I followed him without a word, thinking hard to myself.

Seriously, what’s his problem?

Park Eunwoo was supposed to ignore every other woman after falling in love at first sight with Han Seori. In the show, he even treated Cha Yeryeon—his fiancée—with nothing more than formal politeness. That’s why Yeryeon was jealous and hostile toward Seori. In other words, Eunwoo wasn’t supposed to smile so charmingly at Yeryeon like this! He wasn’t that kind of character!

Struggling to keep a straight face, I resisted the urge to pull my hair. There was only one variable in The Flower of Trials that could change the plot or characters—me. If Park Eunwoo was behaving differently, that meant my actions had somehow affected his attitude toward Yeryeon. What could it be? I had no idea.

Which was why, out of habit, I muttered under my breath again, “This is driving me nuts.”

* * *

“What do you do on your days off, Yeryeon? I mean, we’re engaged and everything, but we’ve never even been on a proper date.”

“I’m too busy to take days off.”

“Oh, then I can visit your office at night with supper…”

“I work from home at night.”

“Then I can visit you at your home…”

“My father doesn’t like guests when it’s late.”

How I wished I could put an end to this meaningless conversation, but despite my uncooperative attitude, Eunwoo merely smiled at me and kept talking. It had become a rather common scene here in our in-house café—me expressionlessly cutting him off and Eunwoo smiling and asking questions nonetheless. He kept trying to play the part of fiancé at every opportunity.

In the show, while Han Seori was busy falling victim to Cha Yeryeon’s schemes, while Cha Yebin got embroiled and reacted angrily, Park Eunwoo always offered the final solution for everyone, thus completing his role. This was probably why he had more time on his hands whenever I took a break from scheming. He used that extra time to visit me and act like he wanted to get closer to me even though in the original script, Park Eunwoo and Cha Yeryeon were like oil and water. Eunwoo hated Yeryeon for being so cruel to Seori. Why had he changed? Could he be a spy? Was he trying to befriend me to make me stop tormenting Seori?

“Mr. Park, can I ask you a serious question?”

“Eunwoo.”

“Sorry?” I asked.

“Eunwoo,” he repeated. “I’ll answer if you call me Eunwoo. Anything you want to know.”

Damn it. My heart actually twisted at that. What woman wouldn’t be affected by that gorgeous face, staring so intently with such shapely eyes? I knew this was all fake, but I’ll admit that this time I nearly fell for it.

Pull yourself together. He’s not a real person! Wake up!

“R-right,” I stammered. “Eunwoo.”

“Yes, Yeryeon?”

“Shouldn’t you be going to Han Seori?”

“To Seori? Why?”

“What do you mean, why? Didn’t you hear? Her mother—”

“Seori’s mother is the one who should apologize to you. Why do I need to go to her?”

Apologize? In daytime dramas, a villainess causing a scene is always considered evil, while anyone else doing the same thing is praised as a hero. In what other drama would the female lead’s mother apologize for slapping the villainess?

And Eunwoo… I just caused hell for the woman you love. Shouldn’t you be worried about her, not me? Now’s not the time to be drinking coffee with me. This is precisely why you are only a supporting character.

I couldn’t quite say what I was thinking, so I awkwardly averted my gaze and took a sip of coffee from my cup. This was so uncomfortable. Every time Eunwoo went against my expectations like this, it felt like a couple of years were being shaved off my life. However, since nothing abnormal had happened so far, I had to trust that the drama was still going according to the script, despite Eunwoo’s attitude toward Yeryeon having changed a bit. No, it changed a lot. At the end of the day, he was still Seori’s faithful dog— I mean, supporter.

“Slow down with the coffee, Yeryeon,” he said. “You don’t want to get heartburn.”

You’re the one who’ll cause my heartburn, not the coffee. Please don’t smile at me like that. My heart can’t handle it.

Unable to bear his beautiful smile, I turned away and stared out the window instead. Occasionally, when I met his eye, Eunwoo flashed me a smile as radiant as the sun. Each time, I had to look away because it felt like a direct attack on my heart. That was why I did not notice that as soon as I looked away his face instantly turned expressionless, his eyes dark and searching as he observed my every move. I had no idea.

* * *

“Ms. Lee, I don’t see the meeting minutes on my desk. Could you bring them to me now?” I asked the assistant manager, Yujin.

“Oh, um… Seori was the one in charge of the minutes, but…”

“But?”

“She’s not in the office at the moment. The files are on her laptop, but she turned it off and nobody else can unlock it. I’m sorry for the delay.”

“Where is Seori now? And why did she work on her personal laptop?”

“I… I’m not sure. She ran out of the office as soon as she received a phone call. It sounded like an emergency…” Yujin said, her voice getting smaller and smaller.

I shot her an icy look.

Why am I the only one working this hard? How come these female leads never get fired when they hardly do any work and run out of the office every other day?

I was grumbling about The Flower of Trials to myself when Yujin noticed my expression and cowered.

“Oh!” I said, snapping back to my senses. “I’m so sorry, I was thinking about something else. Ms. Lee, come with me to Marketing Team 3.”

“I… huh? Are we having another meeting?”

“No. We’re tying up loose ends.”

It was obvious why Seori had suddenly left the office. I suspected that after slapping me with kimchi, her mother had either called or texted her to say she was against her marriage to Cha Yebin. Seori had probably rushed home in alarm because to her, marrying Yebin was the most important thing in the world. Not work.

This is driving me crazy.

The problem with this world was that for matters unrelated to the plot of the show, everything was the same as reality, which was why my work at the office needed to be perfect. That was Cha Yeryeon’s role. As the female lead, Han Seori could leave the office with impunity whenever she pleased as long as it was related to the plot. However, that also meant someone had to do twice the work each time she abandoned her duties. What an unfair world.

For the time being, I wouldn’t have much to do since Seori would be busy running around, but that didn’t mean I could miss such a good chance to make her suffer. It was time to sprinkle a little seasoning on my recipe for making Han Seori’s office life a living hell. I took Yujin straight to Marketing Team 3, where Seori worked.

“Ms. Cha! You must have been so surprised earlier. Are you all right?”

Mr. Choi, the executive manager of the team, sprang to his feet the moment he saw me. He must have thought I’d be offended about what had happened earlier because he kept nervously studying my expression.

“Where is Ms. Han right now?” I asked.

“She isn’t at her desk at the moment,” Mr. Choi responded.

“Then is she working elsewhere? She is working now, isn’t she?”

“I’m, uh, not exactly sure…”

“Mr. Choi, are you saying one of your team members left her desk to tend to personal matters?”

“Uh, well…”

“I hear she was in charge of the meeting minutes today, but the minutes aren’t on my desk. There’s no other way to get that report. Now, am I supposed to wait for her to settle all of her personal issues just to get my work done?”

“I-I’ll call her right away, Ms. Cha!”

Mr. Choi hurried back to his desk and picked up the phone to dial Seori. Everyone else on the team shuddered at my frosty tone, looking back and forth between me and Mr. Choi.

“Ms. Lee,” I said, “what about Ms. Han’s other project? How’s the progress on that?”

“It’s… still in the preparation stage,” Yujin replied.

“And how long has she been in charge of that project?”

“O-one month…” Yujin stammered, realizing how ridiculous her answer was.

Everyone began to whisper. In this company, it was rare to see someone take more than a month to finish such a small project. Most of the staff were competent enough to finish several projects in a week. Except for the female lead, that is. Although considering the plot, how could Seori have any time for work with all her family drama and relationship problems? No one would be able to realistically deal with all of that. Especially for someone as incompetent as Seori.

“Bring Ms. Han in now,” I ordered. “She’s inconveniencing everyone by leaving her desk without approval or a valid reason. You all don’t plan on doing her work for her forever, do you?”

“On it, Ms. Han!”

I took my seat and leaned back in my chair.