I Don’t Want to Play Villains Anymore - Chapter 24

The character is really good.

“Hehe.”

“…Haneul. Why so suddenly?”

Su-a looks at me, trembling beside me.

Playing with the front sleeves of her pink blouse.

Her eyes held an inexplicable mix of excitement and curiosity.

On the outside, she wanted to congratulate me, but inside, her gaze was filled with some anxiety.

‘She can’t hide her childlike nature.’

I tilted my head slowly and wore a slight, gentle smile.

“I got the role I was hoping for.”

“Wow! Congratulations!”

Su-a sparkled her eyes and clapped her hands together.

But I didn’t return that bright reaction.

Instead, in a slightly lower voice, I continued in a very calm manner.

“That role… I don’t like it, but there is a lot to gain from playing it.”

“…What do you mean?”

Su-a tilted her head.

She was just a normal five-year-old, different from me.

At that age, she doesn’t know how the world works.

So she probably doesn’t fully understand what I’m saying right now.

I sat down on the floor with my legs crossed.

I didn’t care much about getting my clothes dirty.

The feelings welling up inside me right now were far more important.

“In this world, there are many Burams who pretend to be nice.”

“Uh…?”

“Words are kind, smiles are beautiful, and they seem like angels on the outside. But once you get to know them… they bother someone, ignore them, and bring them down without even realizing it.”

Su-a started to look a bit serious.

Since she was still young, it seemed like she was trying to grasp something from my words.

“Have you seen people like that?”

“Yeah.”

A memory from long ago surfaced.

In my past life, and… even in this short life.

Those faces were always somewhere around.

They approached me, and even on the day I was evaluated as ‘playing a Ral.’

“So the role I have this time is… one that holds a mirror to those kinds of people.”

“Mirror?”

I chuckled lightly.

“Yeah. An innocent child who, with the most beautiful face, speaks the coldest words and does the cruelest things.”

“That’s scary… Haneul wouldn’t do that…”

Su-a’s voice grew smaller. She was genuinely worried about me, and that made her expression even more anxious.

But I shook my head.

“I have to.”

“Soon?”

“Because that’s how those kinds of people will start to see me properly.”

Su-a looked at me with wide eyes.

I didn’t shy away from that gaze either.

“It’s a role I didn’t want, but it’s okay. Rather, it’s given me a purpose.”

My fingers trembled just a bit.

Not out of fear but because of some anticipation.

The moment when they could ruin me, that fleeting exhilaration.

“If I play that role, there will be people I dislike. I’ll get criticized too. But that’s fine. Because that way, someone will remember me as a real actor.”

I quietly took a breath and unfolded the script I had taken from my bag onto my lap.

‘Diary of a Villain’

The title was etched into my eyes like a black-and-white film.

Su-a mumbled softly while looking at the script.

“…It must be a really scary story.”

I nodded.

“Yeah. But it’s also the saddest story.”

And, with my fingertips, I traced the first line of the script.

[It won’t be fun to look, will it, Teacher? Your last memory will be filled with me. Even if you want to look away, you won’t be able to.]

One by one, I slowly followed the emotional nuances embedded in the sentences as if I were feeling them with my fingers.

On the surface, it sounded playful, but there was a strange duality hidden in the ending of my words.

Calm yet insane, innocent yet very much aware of the world.

I quietly closed my eyes.

In my mind, the stage unfolded. A dark classroom. A bl**d-stained blackboard. A chilling silence just after the teacher’s breath stopped.

And at the center of it all, there I sat, lounging half on a desk with my legs propped up.

The girl named ‘Suha’ was looking at all of it as if it were simply a show.

Just the act of bringing down a ‘failed adult’ wasing it seemed too natural to this child.

“…Suha.”

I murmured as I called her name.

From now on, I have to become this child.

Becoming that child meant carefully peeling away my existence like a delicate shell, and drawing out the beastly instincts hidden inside.

[Teacher. Adults always favor good kids, right? I’m a good kid too. Before the uncle noticed, no one suspected anything. So the uncle is special. He’s the first one to see me.]

As I repeated the sentence, I slowly raised the corners of my mouth.

‘Ah. Uncle. The first person to recognize me.’

That smile was by no means cute.

It was a mixture of deep cynicism about the world and incredible insight.

Like a hunter watching a prey falling into its own trap.

‘I plan, I wait, I execute.’

Not simple mischief, but a thoroughly structured crime.

Not simple desire, but an obsession to leave my presence.

I quietly opened my palm.

And in it, I imagined a pair of imaginary scissors, sketching it out in my mind.

The kind of plastic material that looks harmless anywhere.

But when held by Suha, it turns into a weapon that digs deep into flesh.

Snip. Snip.

I imagined the scissors slicing through the bricks in the cathedral.

It could easily cut through soft flesh and bl**d vessels.

While it seems cute and harmless, in reality, it strikes only the most precise and vital areas.

[And you know what, Teacher.]

I poked the air lightly with my fingertip.

It felt like someone’s carotid artery was right there, perfectly aligned.

[In the kingdom of heaven, please let me be born again.]

I opened my eyes.

My lips were smiling, and my gaze was perfectly frozen.

That was not me.

That was ‘Suha.’

I was now, for the first time, becoming a real villain.

And that, in itself, was a rebellion against the world and a declaration.

‘So remember.’

From now on, when people call my name…

They won’t just call me a ‘cute genius’—

But as ‘the actor who plays the scariest roles.’

“Wow!!! Teacher!!! Haneul is acting strange!!”

“Ah.”

I had forgotten that Su-a was right in front of me.

That day, the teacher made the second call to our house.

.

.

.

.

After some time, the production press conference began, with numerous reporters already lined up.

They had cameras set up on tripods, notepads in hand, and earbuds in their ears.

The unique tension radiating from the group of reporters was permeating the room.

The genius of thrillers, Director Gong Mu-heon, is returning to television after a five-year hiatus.

That in itself was already a hot topic, and the industry had been buzzing about it for a month.

However, the real reason these reporters were so eager was different.

On a piece of paper quietly circulating among them.

No, it was a story that couldn’t just be dismissed as simple gossip anymore.

[Director Gong Mu-heon supposedly knelt before a child actor at a broadcasting station, hahaha.]

– There’s no way Director Gong Mu-heon would do that.

– Seriously, what kind of story are they shooting? Hahaha.

But this news was already being accepted as somewhat credible among the reporters.

‘Gong Mu-heon knelt.’

That in itself was an unbelievable story.

Him bowing his head to an actor? Impossible.

Always cold on set, a man like a stone that shows no emotion.

An embodiment of charisma and stubbornness. A master.

That such a man—

Kneeling before a five-year-old child actor?

While it was unbelievable, there was an uncanny certainty creeping up that it might just be true.

After all, the name of that child actor had constantly been on everyone’s lips lately.

Baek Ha-neul.

The drama was a success, the C-Sue was a hit, and she became the center of attention in every interview.

Every expression, every gesture was being critically analyzed.

There was even a joke going around saying, ‘the scariest presence in the entertainment industry right now is Baek Ha-neul.’

And ‘Diary of a Villain’ was the first drama where Baek Ha-neul would take on the role of a solo villain.

So, Director Gong Mu-heon was directing it?

And he even personally went to persuade her?

Whether it was a lie or the truth, it was an absolute ‘goldmine’ for the reporters.

“Reporters, please enter slowly!”

“Be careful of the flash!”

As the order to enter the conference room began, the reporters’ hands got busy.

Final checks. Organizing the questions. Confirming the microphone battery.

Highly refined tones and sharp gazes ready for the k*ll sparkled everywhere.

“Alright. The actors are coming in!”

The flash exploded.

As the simultaneous outburst of lighting drew all the reporters’ attention forward.

The black curtain was drawn aside, and the first to appear was Director Gong Mu-heon, dressed in a black suit.

He stood in the center wordlessly, bowing his head slightly in greeting.

Following him, one by one the actors entered.

It was no surprise that the male lead, Lee Jae-wook, playing the uncle’s role, received the most flashes.

Who is the best-looking star in the entertainment industry right now? His name is always mentioned without fail, an actor who started as a child actor.

Though he exuded the youthful charm of a twenty-year-old, he was already a hot potato…

The most famous person in the industry right now, however, was someone else.

The small child wearing a white dress, who walked out slowly from behind the curtain.

“Sa…”

“It’s real.”

“Baek Ha-neul…”

A quiet murmur began to spread.

That presence, walking slowly across the stage, was so calm and composed that it was hard to believe she was only five years old.

Delicate little hands, and blue eyes staring directly ahead.

She bowed her head slightly in greeting and quietly stood next to the director.

And then the opening statement echoed through the room.

“Yes, then we will now begin the official production press conference for <Diary of a Villain>.”

Next was the Q&A session.

Someone raised their hand while holding a microphone.

“Baek Ha-neul, this is your first role as a villain, right? Did you feel any pressure?”

A reporter asking, not to one of the popular actors or the director, but to a child actor who has only filmed three projects.

Yet no one looked at him strangely.

The spotlight shifted back to Haneul.

Flashes went off, and all eyes aimed at her.

Yet, despite it all—

Haneul remained utterly unfazed.

Her small lips opened coolly, and an even deeper voice flowed out.

“…Rather than a villain.”

The reporters got busy with their notepads.

Haneul slightly tilted her head, squinted her eyes, and smiled.

“This character called ‘Suha’ is a pure-hearted figure.”

At that answer, Director Gong Mu-heon chuckled softly.

‘Now it begins.’

He murmured inwardly.

The legend starts from right here.