238 The Wraith Stretches Her Claws (1/2)

”You're really something else. How'd you manage to climb so far with that fake smile of yours?”

Park Lina—one of the other people who auditioned for the VitaQua commercial appeared in front of Yeo Ri.

She was a mean girl, Yeo Ri remembered, and the older girl had said something that made her angry, but Yeo Ri had pretty much forgotten all about it.

Park Lina was genuinely wondering why Yeo Ri was invited to this closed casting. Everyone here had been directly invited or was recommended by an influential figure in the industry, despite some of them being young and relatively new.

Yeo Ri literally had no experience at all except for that one commercial she did. She was barely qualified to join the audition when everyone here had at least a year's worth of experience compared to her measly... three or four months. To add insult to injury, Yeo Ri had stolen one of the roles she had worked hard to get, only because the d*mned girl was lucky to know the director personally, and Park Lina herself was unluckily stuck at the airport back then because of a delayed flight.

It was only a small role which barely had one minute of screentime, but for someone who had had a smooth career up until then, her pride could not let it go.

On top of that, the fake b*tch had charmed everyone with her fake goody-two-shoes act, acting like a sweet, demure girl. It was disgusting, watching someone with so thick of a face. Even her mother's ten-inch makeup style felt more genuine than the b*tch.

”What's wrong with you, hurling insults to an innocent person like that? Crazy...” Won muttered. He frowned at Park Lina, who was so clearly hostile to the nice and quiet Lee Yeo Ri.

”Insult? Where? All I said was the truth,” she snubbed. Every time she saw Lee Yeo Ri's smile, she could only feel disgusted. Fake! Simply too fake! How no one else seemed to realise it was beyond her.

Yeo Ri lowered her head, as if feeling upset over the mean girl's words.

Even Secretary Kwon was deceived by her action, thinking that she had taken offense to the words. He pulled her behind him, glaring at the angry-looking girl through his sunglasses. Completed with the thin line on his face, he easily came off as an intimidating bodyguard that even Park Lina took a step back from them.

However—

'—Ah, was it too fake?' Yeo Ri covered her face with her palms, feeling her facial muscles contorting. She was surprised that the girl had such sharp eyes—and here she thought, that her smile was perfect. 'That's no good.' She had to do better. Nobody would like her if she didn't smile properly.

Yeo Ri closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them.

Finally, Yeo Ri raised her head. Her expression was now one of confusion, flushing red. If anybody had known better, they would not have had taken pity in her defenceless appearance.

Staring deeply at Park Lina, Yeo Ri tilted her head, inwardly marking this girl in her mind.

Someone who could see through her act was dangerous.

Someone who was so hostile against her was even more dangerous.