Free Web NovelThe shoot started with Seoryeong’s first appearance scene.
“That damn pair of shoes—told him to throw them out and he never listens. Honestly, that’s why you can’t trust bald monks. What kind of ‘non-attachment’ is that supposed to be?”
Muttering to herself as she kicked a pebble aside, Seoryeong clearly looked like someone used to wearing men’s clothes. Even her gait was different.
Strolling along, Seoryeong glanced down at her straw sandals and clicked her tongue softly.
“While I’m at it, I should change my own shoes too. Even if I end up walking the road to the afterlife, I should at least be wearing silk shoes.”
She nodded to herself and smiled faintly. It was the face of someone indulging a small desire, as if just thinking about it put her in a good mood.
Seoryeong quickened her pace. You could feel her impatience—she wanted to change shoes as soon as possible.
“Ah—. This mountain valley is ridiculously deep!”
After loosening up for a moment, Seoryeong ran up the mountain path, clearly excited.
Thanks to the men’s disguise, the way she ran looked even lighter. Even in straw sandals, her speed was impressive.
Drrrrrk-.
The camera followed Seoryeong along the pre-laid rail.
“Cut!”
At Director Jang’s call, a hint of laughter crept in. Yeoreum headed over to monitor the shot, her eyes serious as she stared at the screen.
The face of Seoryeong heading toward the village just moments ago—playful and carefree—was nowhere to be seen now.
* * *
Among those watching Seoryeong were Noh Jeongyeon and Geum Bitgang.
It was the first day of filming. Even though it wasn’t her own shoot day, Noh Jeongyeon had deliberately come down to the set—she was curious about Yeoreum’s acting.
“Bitgang—. Since you came all the way down here, why don’t you relax your face a bit? You even get to drink coffee thanks to your disciple.”
“Like hell I’d ever buy something like this with my own money!”
“Mmm—. Stop saying such nasty things.”
Noh Jeongyeon had personally dragged Geum Bitgang along, knowing she wouldn’t come on her own despite being even more curious.
Geum Bitgang spoke as she did, but her gaze had been fixed on Yeoreum the whole time.
“Well? She’s good, right? Isn’t she impressive?”
“The running’s decent enough. Did she do track and field before?”
“She said she went to the action academy Junhyeok attends and learned how to run.”
Noh Jeongyeon smiled as if Han Yeoreum were her own direct disciple. Geum Bitgang frowned deeply, displeased by the sight.
“Professor! When did you get here?”
Holding the script and talking with Director Jang, Yeoreum spotted Geum Bitgang and immediately ran over.
Not to Noh Jeongyeon—but straight to Geum Bitgang.
Trying harder to hide her emotions, Geum Bitgang furrowed her brow even more. She pressed her lips down tightly, the corners drooping.
“Do you like your coffee sweet? Should I ask for something sugary? As you can see, it’s my coffee truck, so feel free to take a verification shot right in front. Sharing your disciple’s first coffee truck—Professor, you’re pretending not to be, but you’re secretly moved, right?”
“That’s enough. And who said I was moved!”
“You came to cheer me on, didn’t you.”
“I came to watch how many NGs you rack up every time you roll a cut, so stay sharp.”
As Geum Bitgang grumbled, the staff finished setting up the equipment.
“Yeoreum—! Let’s check the blocking once!”
“Yes! Coming!”
Watching Yeoreum run off at Director Jang's call, Geum Bitgang tightened her grip on the coffee cup.
‘This is a set where you’re laughing one moment, then rolling on the ground crying the next.’
Scenes don’t flow smoothly. The script chops time into fragments.
‘In the same location, you have to film meeting, parting, and meeting again—all in a single day.’
Actors caught in the frame must look at each other with unfamiliar expressions, then with longing so intense it feels once-in-a-lifetime, and then again with hearts swelling full.
‘Let’s see how much you can really do, you little chick.’
Geum Bitgang carefully removed the coffee holder printed with Han Yeoreum’s face from the cup so it wouldn’t crease.
Then she tucked it inside her padded jacket. Yeoreum’s brightly smiling face settled against Geum Bitgang’s chest.
* * *
As soon as she reached the village, Seoryeong began searching for her next patron. The two of them had been wandering, living on the run to avoid Yeomga.
Watching Jeongan gather wild greens and twist straw ropes to earn travel money, Seoryeong clicked her tongue.
“Are you kidding me.... My lifespan’s short! If I keep filling my stomach with scraps like wild greens, I’ll turn into a hungry ghost even after I die!”
Seoryeong raged and acted however she pleased. She was going to die soon anyway. She lived as if there were no tomorrow.
Sometimes she earned money by reading faces, sometimes she joined gamblers in running scams, and sometimes she entered the homes of wealthy families in trouble and played the role of a benefactor.
They were people she’d never see again anyway, so Seoryeong lived without restraint.
As if engraving it into her bones—that this life was for revenge against Yeomga. That it was a life destined to be thrown away someday.
“Arr—ived—!”
Reaching the village, Seoryeong leaned her head forward slightly, like a cat. She looked as if she’d spotted an interesting piece of prey.
‘Good. This is it.’
Watching Yeoreum on the screen, Director Jang kept smoothing the corners of his mouth that kept wanting to lift.
Seoryeong’s character came through perfectly with just a few of Yeoreum’s movements.
“I want her to feel like an untamed animal. Like a cat.”
“A cat?”
“Yes. True to her desires, careless because she thinks she’ll never meet these people twice, poorly socialized....”
Yeoreum created a Seoryeong who was clearly opinionated, selfish, lazy—and yet, when something sparked her curiosity, utterly absorbed. A troublemaker you couldn’t quite hate.
Director Jang was fully immersed in the monitor where Seoryeong appeared.
On the screen, another woman stood alongside Seoryeong.
A nobleman’s wife, pale as if on the verge of anemia, wiped the cold sweat streaming down her face with a handkerchief. Unlike Seoryeong’s shabby clothes, her soft silk garments clearly marked her status.
Just as she was about to pass by Seoryeong in her old, tattered attire, as if there’d be no reason for their lives to intertwine—
Their shoulders brushed.
“Aren’t you sick of bowing by now?”
Seoryeong spoke to her, as if poking her lightly.
The lady bit her lip once, as though determined not to respond to such words.
Instead, her maid snapped angrily.
“You insolent wretch! How dare you speak like that!”
“That’s enough. Shouldn’t you show generosity even to brats like this....”
As if she didn’t even have the energy to be angry, the lady spoke without turning back to Seoryeong.
“How could devotion to Buddha ever grow tiresome? Stop talking nonsense and go on your way.”
But Seoryeong didn’t retreat.
“No matter how sincerely you pray, you won’t have a child.”
This time, she prodded more sharply, claws lightly extended. Perhaps because she’d scratched an already festering wound, the lady’s eyes—long unable to bear an heir no matter how desperately she wished—flared with anger.
“You wretch! Madam, don’t stop me. Even Buddha would understand if I taught this one a lesson!”
“Why are there so many screeching children around? So noisy.... Anyway, you—think carefully.”
Despite the fury of the surrounding maids, Seoryeong remained unbothered. It was the demeanor of someone clearly holding the upper hand.
As if she had nothing to lose, Seoryeong continued.
“Take me with you—just this once.”
Without turning around, Seoryeong stepped back half a pace, positioning herself so her voice would carry clearly to the lady’s ear.
“I’ll save your life.”
At the whispered words, the lady involuntarily snapped her head around. Their similar heights brought Seoryeong’s face fully into view.
Seoryeong smiled, eyes narrowing slightly with mischief—like she was inviting her to play.
* * *
The shoot moved straight on to the moment of their parting. Once again, Seoryeong sought out the lady’s father-in-law and played the role of benefactor.
It was dusk, the time when the sun was slipping behind the ridgeline.
The warm glow of sunset settled over Seoryeong’s clothes. The silk hanbok she’d wrung from the father-in-law gleamed all the more.
“Th-thank you, sir. Truly.”
That wasn’t all. Seoryeong now even had a bundle she hadn’t before—stuffed full of goods taken from the lady’s household.
“Meeting you has been the greatest fortune of my life.”
The lady spoke as if Seoryeong were her very savior. And it was understandable—no matter what she did, she had never been able to conceive, and to her, Seoryeong was a lifeline.
“No need to thank me.”
Seoryeong replied with her hands clasped behind her back.
“Pardon? But....”
Slowly, Seoryeong turned. Her profile, dyed by the sunset, shifted the color of her eyes.
With eyes glowing a light brown, Seoryeong tilted her chin ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) upward. It made her look as though she were gazing down at the similarly tall lady.
“It’s a lie that you’ll have a child.”
“...What?”
“Like your husband, your own fate holds no children either. It’s not just his fault—it’s both of you.”
“H-how could you possibly....”
The lady collapsed to the ground. She couldn’t even spare a thought for the fine hem of her skirt dragging through the dirt as she crumpled.
“Then... everything was a lie....” freewёbnoνel.com
Clutching her face with dirt-smeared hands, the lady sobbed as her last hope shattered.
Her weeping spilled miserably through the gaps between her fingers.
“Not everything was a lie.”
Seoryeong bent her knees and crouched down to the fallen lady’s level.
“I kept my promise to save your life.”
She leaned in slowly, speaking close to the lady’s face.
“You’ve just passed through a brush with death. Do you still not understand that?”
At Seoryeong’s whisper, the lady stopped crying. Slowly lowering her hands, she saw Seoryeong’s expressionless face close by.
The playful smile from earlier was nowhere to be found.
“From now on, remember my words carefully. Convert your household assets into things that are easy to carry and valuable. Sell the silk and buy gold rings.”
Placing a hand on one knee, Seoryeong rose to her feet again.
The lady followed her movement, lifting her gaze.
“That house has exhausted its luck. Soon, nothing will remain.”
Just before sunset—when the sky burned at its brightest—Seoryeong stood shining, the spreading crimson glow at her back.
She looked like a god descended to save the lady’s life.
“Even if you have no fortune with children, your fortune with people is strong—you’ll live well. When you leave that house, take care of the maids who were around you earlier. Like they’re your own blood.”
At those words, a glimmer of life slowly returned to the lady’s despairing eyes.
They were the eyes of someone who had found a thread of hope in the depths of despair.
Cornered by the cold treatment of a husband and father-in-law who scorned her for her barrenness, the lady was given a new path—opened by Seoryeong.
