Chapter 137: Collaborator (1)

Park Geon-Woo, who had suffered a dishonorable death due to Kim Han-Gyo’s schemes, had now spent almost five years as a woman after becoming a high school girl. It was December 28th; not much time was left of this year.

‘Time flies by so fast.’

She had starred in a movie, modeled for the army, and had also flipped the military base that Yi-Jun was in upside down. She had done a lot this year, so she felt like it would be quite a memorable one. But of course, she had not yet faced the monumental day.

‘The day that my revenge is complete would be the best day of my life as Kang Ra-Eun.’

As she was deep in such thoughts, Hwang Seung-Beom made a fuss at the Film Awards ceremony that they had attended together.

“Sunbae! Since your name hasn’t been called a single time, you’ll probably be a nominee for the Grand Prize, wouldn’t you say?”

She had won the Top Excellence in Acting last time, so the best case scenario would be that she won the Grand Prize the year after. However, she had no interest in the Grand Prize; she only had revenge on her mind.

Ra-Eun said apathetically, “If they give it to me, I’ll accept it. Nothing more, nothing less.”

She maintained a chic expression that showed she couldn’t care less about what was going on, but immediately switched to a radiant smile once the camera pointed at her. She had been an actress for so long that it had become a piece of cake for her to instantly flip between expressions. She then switched back to her apathetic face once the camera panned away.

“Why are the cameramen filming me so much?” Ra-Eun wondered.

Seung-Beom simply chuckled in response since he knew how Ra-Eun was usually like. He knew the reason; it was because Ra-Eun was one of the actresses who had displayed the greatest achievements this year. Although One of a Kind of Girl had failed to reach ten million in total audience attendance, it was still considered a massive hit because it had smashed past the original seven million goal, with 8.5 million.

Not only was Ra-Eun the protagonist of this film, she had already been receiving tons of interest and love from fans even before the film because of her outstanding looks, figure and her performance overflowing with charisma. Since her first ever film as a protagonist had become a huge hit on top of that, the cameramen couldn’t help but frequently film her.

“You’re also very beautiful, so I think the cameramen are filming you with ulterior motives,” Seung-Beom mentioned.

Beauty was a sin, or at least that was what Ra-Eun thought.

‘I used to think women who said shit like that had a chip on their shoulder.’

However, she couldn’t help but sympathize with them now that she had been put in the same position.

She was wearing a dress with little exposure today, so she was able to freely put one leg over the other, or cross her arms together. She had to put a blanket over her legs last year. She had not cared much about her panties being visible back when she was a high school girl, but she had changed. It felt like her shame toward exposure was amplifying more and more as time went by, to the point that she hated nothing more than revealing her skin.

‘I wonder if this is because I’ve somewhat adapted to being a woman?’

She did not know the exact reason, but she thought it was the most plausible. While the others had their hopes up for Ra-Eun to be one of the Grand Prize nominees, Ra-Eun herself sighed deeply. Seung-Beom thought she had sighed because she felt pressured by the ceremony, but it had been for a completely different reason.

‘Screw all this. I just want to go home.’

All that was on Ra-Eun’s mind was to go home and rest as soon as possible.

***

As the Film Awards was reaching its climax, only the Grand Prize remained. One of a Kind of Girl had won Best Film, Seung-Beom had won Best New Actor, but Ra-Eun’s name had not been called a single time. People started muttering that Ra-Eun might actually be named as a nominee for the Grand Prize.

There were several people who had distinguished themselves this year, so it could be considered an honor for Ra-Eun just to be nominated among them.

“Now! Let us take a look at the nominees for the Grand Prize!” the host exclaimed.

The audience’s heads turned to the large screen. The first nominee was the actress Ji Kang-Hye. She had fifteen years of acting experience and had been awarded the Grand Prize several times in her career, so she had been expected to be one of the nominees this year as well. No one had complaints about it, since she deserved to be up there.

The following nominees were just as famous as Ji Kang-Hye. There was only one more nominee left. The ceremony venue fell silent the moment it was revealed, because the final nominee was Kang Ra-Eun.

Reactions were divided among those who had expected it and those who hadn’t. Her career was not as vast as the others; she had only starred in a few productions, but her roles had all been superstar-grade. That was how Ra-Eun was already able to aim for the pinnacle award of the film industry.

The host said as a joke, “Everyone else is in their thirties or forties, but only Miss Kang is in her early twenties.”

.

The audience members chuckled as the nominees’ age gap was mentioned. Not only age, but Ra-Eun’s acting career was far shorter than the other nominees. That just went to show Ra-Eun’s potential.

Before the winner of the Grand Prize was announced, the mic was given to Ji Kang-Hye.

“Miss Ji Kang-Hye. You’ve been nominated for the Grand Prize this year as well. It unfortunately escaped your grasp last year, but what do you think about this year?”

Kang-Hye answered while tucking her hair behind her ear, “Mm... I wonder. There are so many more famous and skilled nominees alongside me this year, so I’m personally feeling quite pressured. I certainly do want the award, but I feel like someone else has a greater chance of winning it.”

“Who are you referring to?” the host asked.

“Mr. Yoon Dae-Bin.”

Kang-Hye blatantly designated a single person out of the eight nominees. Ra-Eun’s eyes narrowed. Kang-Hye had chosen without thought or hesitation, as if she already knew the result. Ra-Eun’s turn had come before she knew it as the nominees spoke one by one.

“Miss Kang Ra-Eun. How do you feel, ending up having to go against all these outstanding sunbaes for the Grand Prize?” the host questioned.

Ra-Eun answered generically with an artificial smile, “I feel greatly honored just from earning the opportunity to stand alongside my respected sunbaes.”

“Who do you think will win the Grand Prize?”

The host had asked this question to every single nominee. Ra-Eun smiled even bigger for a moment.

“I’m a very greedy person, so I hope I win it.”

The people in the venue nodded as if they had expected such a forthright answer from her. That confidence of hers could be considered her trademark. The host had also hoped for Ra-Eun to say such a thing. She had fulfilled everyone’s expectations.

As Ra-Eun handed the mic over to a staff member, she met eyes with Kang-Hye for a very short moment. Unlike Kang-Hye who was looking at Ra-Eun expressionlessly, Ra-Eun smiled. Although no one knew who would win the Grand Prize, Ra-Eun had won the battle of confidence against her sunbae.

***

Ra-Eun had said that she hoped to win the Grand Prize, but even she knew that it would be very difficult for her to win. The achievements of Yoon Dae-Bin, the actor whom Kang-Hye had mentioned, had been far too great this year.

The historical film One World that he had been the protagonist of had become a massive hit with ten million in total audience attendance. Not only were historical films very popular in Korea, no other films had come out around the same time to challenge it, so it had been able to gather more views than expected.

In terms of purely results, it was fair to think that Yoon Dae-Bin would easily win the Grand Prize. However, Ra-Eun expected Kang-Hye had named Yoon Dae-Bin as the most likely winner for a different reason. Ra-Eun already had something in mind that she was suspicious of.

A drumroll filled the entire venue.

“The Grand Prize goes to...! Mr. Yoon Dae-Bin! Congratulations!”

As most people had expected, Yoon Dae-Bin had become the protagonist of this year’s Film Awards.

Ra-Eun glanced at Seung-Beom and said, “Bouquet.”

“Yes, ma’am. Here it is.”

Ra-Eun headed up to the stage with the bouquet of flowers that Seung-Beom gave her and handed it to Dae-Bin, who had come up to the stage first.

“Congratulations on the Grand Prize, sunbae.”

“Thank you, Ra-Eun. I personally hoped you’d win it. I’m sorry.”

It was not lip service; there were tons of sunbaes who adored Ra-Eun, and Dae-Bin was one of the greatest. He had been won over before he knew it by Ra-Eun’s proud and confident performance despite being a relatively new actress.

Ra-Eun smiled. “I’ll do my best to achieve the result you hope for from me next time, sunbae.”

“Okay, and let’s work on a production together. It’s one of my wishes to work together with you.”

“Me too, sunbae.”

Ra-Eun headed back to the stairs leading down the stage after her short conversation with Dae-Bin. She slightly lifted the hem of her long dress so that she wouldn’t step on it with her heels. She took her time going down the stairs. Just then, she came across Kang-Hye who was on her way up to congratulate Dae-Bin as well.

Kang-Hye spoke first, “What a shame. You’d said back in the interview that you’d hoped to win the Grand Prize, right?”

Her words were mixed with slight sarcasm, possibly because she had lost in the previous battle of confidence. However, Ra-Eun returned Kang-Hye’s sarcastic comment with a perfect smile and made a comment of her own.

“I’m sure you’re more disappointed than I am, sunbae. You’d said you thought Dae-Bin sunbae would win the Grand Prize, but your expression and eyes were saying otherwise.”

“Otherwise?”

“Yes. It looked to me that you’d actually hoped for yourself to win the award. It’s just my imagination, isn’t it, sunbae?”

“...”

Ra-Eun had won in the battle of words as well. Meanwhile, Kang-Hye, who had lost twice in a row, stomped up the steps with a blatantly annoyed expression. Ra-Eun smirked as she looked at the angry Kang-Hye from behind.

‘Your heels will break at that rate.’