Chapter 37.1

Chapter 37.1

Park Doosik roughly pulled off the actress’s top, who was playing Mimi’s role. Even half-undressed, her performance was much more stable than Miran’s. However, everyone’s eyes were drawn to Miran, whose face was pale, and lips trembled.

Finally, Park Doosik ordered Miran to strip, saying he mad her “h0rn1y”. Andre, who knew the scene that would follow, found himself holding his breath.

‘Don’t do it.’

The thought shouted from deep within him.

He didn’t want to see Miran undressing in front of another man. Even if it was acting, the sight of her kissing someone else felt like a knife twisting in his gut.

Like a coal tossed into a furnace, this feeling bubbled dangerously close to exploding at any moment. He struggled to suppress this violent impulse, finally realizing that what he felt for Miran was possessiveness—a fierce desire to keep her to himself.

That realization hit him hard. But he didn’t have the time to dissect his emotions just then.

Under the lights, Miran’s large eyes wavered, her nose turning red, and her lips tightly bitten. Tears welled at the corners of her eyes and slipped down her cheeks as she clenched them shut.

She opened her eyes with the kind of desperate expression one might have when facing death row, swallowed down her sobs as she pulled down the straps of her dress. Her chest was exposed just to the point where it was almost fully visible. He heard someone nearby swallow.

Andre lowered his head, realizing Miran had made a decision for the sake of her career. But along with that foreign feeling of defeat came a deep sense of despair. Unsure how to handle this new emotion, he decided to get out of the d@!mn set.

As he headed toward the door, the director’s voice tore through the air, grating like metal.

“Cut! Chorong, why aren’t you stripping?”

Andre, hand on the door handle, glanced back. Miran blinked at him, dazed. Slowly, he turned back around.

The moment their eyes met, Miran’s lips trembled, and her face crumbled. She began to sob miserably.

Behind him, someone muttered in frustration, “Ha, fu!ck! Right when it was getting good.” Miran, hearing that too, glared at the onlookers through her tears.

Then Director Byungjin, who had gathered all the junior staff members and made a speech as if he was doing them a great favor by letting actresses strip in front of them, gestured at her with a flushed face.

“Hey, you! Get over here.”

Miran flinched and slowly stood. Unable to wipe her tears properly in fear of smearing her makeup, she dabbed at her cheeks as she walked over to the director, guilt-ridden, her head hanging low as she claseped her hands.

“D-mn it! You think this is a joke? If you’re supposed to strip, then strip! What are you crying for? Ha! This is why I should’ve just hired a p0rn actress for this scene. Why the hell did I bother casting a b!~tch who can’t even act for sh+t?”

He jabbed her forehead with his finger, pushing her head to the side with each poke.

“Is your head that far up your @ss? All you have to do is strip and cry. That’s it! Sh+-t! What’s so hard about that?”

“When all those people came in so suddenly…”

As Miran’s voice quivered, trailing off, the Byungjin scoffed in disbelief.

“Hah! These days, even nobodies feel they can backtalk to the director. Saying ‘I’m sorry’ should be enough. Right?”

“I’m sorry. I thought we’d be filming with just a minimum crew…”

The director cut her off with a glare.

“Sh+t! Do you think a nobody like you has the right to make requests like that?”