I Became a Villainous Character with a Limited Lifespan

Episode 68

“There’s only one person who would come anyway, why don’t you just enter the passcode and come in…”

Seung-hyun, who opened the door thinking it would naturally be Jaeyoung, was surprised to face an unexpected person and froze on the spot.

“How did you get here?”

“The person who taught me how to obtain information is you, Director, so it’s strange for you to ask so suddenly.”

The person waiting for Seung-hyun at the door was not Jaeyoung but Seok-hyung. He hadn’t told anyone his changed home address.

“I’ll come in.”

The uninvited guest who came in without even being told to come in slowly looked around the house. The interior was completely different from Seung-hyun’s original house.

It didn’t match his taste from one to ten. It wasn’t just a story about the interior. The clothes he was wearing, the way Seok-hyung was looking at him now. Everything was unfamiliar to the extreme.

“What are you doing now…”

“If it were the director I know. When I entered the house without even asking for permission, you wouldn’t just watch but would slap me in the face, asking what brazen thing I was doing.”

The moment Seung-hyun tried to confront him belatedly, Seok-hyung cut off his words. Clearly, Seung-hyun was the only one listening, but he didn’t seem to be looking at him or talking to him.

“If it were the person I know.”

Though their gazes met belatedly, it was still strangely off from Seung-hyun. Seung-hyun got goosebumps at the appearance that seemed to separate the Han Seung-hyun he knew and the person in front of his eyes.

“Even though I know the situation given to you… is so harsh that it’s not strange for you not to act the same as before. To the point where I keep getting unimaginable thoughts, the you I know and the you now are different.”

Seung-hyun, who avoided Seok-hyung’s gaze without realizing it, took a step back. Seok-hyung, who took a step closer with a larger stride, looked at Seung-hyun. Thinking it would look more strange to avoid his gaze, Seung-hyun struggled to lift his head. Seok-hyung’s eyes that he faced were shaking terribly.

“It’s like…”

“……”

“I know it’s nonsense, but it’s like you’ve become a different person…”

“…!!”

It was a shock that felt like his heart was sinking. He shouldn’t act awkwardly, but unable to hide his shaking eyes, Seung-hyun ended up lowering his head again.

“While knowing it’s nonsense… I don’t know why you’re saying such things on purpose.”

His voice didn’t tremble, but it was an unconfident voice even to his own ears. It was natural for his actions to change since the person changed, but Seung-hyun thought his change wouldn’t feel strange to Seok-hyung, if not others.

Because it’s not strange for a person who received a terminal diagnosis to go through a change in mindset. He was also trying to imitate the ‘Han Seung-hyun’ in the novel to some extent.

Moreover, since he had been avoiding Seok-hyung, he thought it would be difficult for him to notice anything strange.

“Even though I know… for the first few days, I thought it could be like that. I thought Director Han would also be in great shock, so you would need some time to organize your thoughts.”

At first, he thought it could be like that. The Seung-hyun Seok-hyung knew was a strong person, but at the same time, he was also a person with a precarious side that could break at any time.

Still, he thought he would come back. Even if he lost motivation right away, he thought that flame wouldn’t go out until he used everything he had.

So he didn’t stop Seung-hyun who said he would quit the company. But after that day, Seung-hyun became strange as if he had become a different person.

He was a person who thought even a vacation was a luxury. It was strange that a person who didn’t even know how to play was wandering around here and there, and it was absolutely unacceptable that he wasn’t doing anything for such a long period of time.

But there was something even more unacceptable than those circumstances. Something even stranger than the space that didn’t suit Seung-hyun where he was standing now or Seung-hyun’s current attire.

“…You have never looked at me like that, Director.”

Seung-hyun’s gaze toward Seok-hyung was always bland. Although he took care of Seok-hyung more than others, to him, Seok-hyung was just a tool at best.

He never thought that was unpleasant. Rather, he was glad. The fact that he was a useful tool, that he had a use that would make him stay by his side.

But now, Seung-hyun was looking at Seok-hyung as a person. Ironically, that bothered him. To the point where he felt that the person who couldn’t come to his senses after Seung-hyun received the terminal diagnosis might have been himself, Seung-hyun had a face different from the past.

‘How can I only notice this now?’

Clearly the same face, the same body. He acts as if he remembers the past and knows him well.

“Even though I know it’s nonsense… you don’t feel like you, Director.”

“…So, did you come all the way here to say such nonsense? What do you want to hear?”

“……”

“That I’ve become a different person. I didn’t know this secretary was interested in novels. How about trying a new field on this occasion?”

Seung-hyun purposely pushed Seok-hyung away with an aggressive tone. His heart was beating like crazy. He knew Seok-hyung was the person who knew Han Seung-hyun the best. But he didn’t know he would infer even this nonsensical situation.

Fortunately, he also couldn’t rationally accept this supernatural phenomenon. Seung-hyun acted as ‘Han Seung-hyun,’ thinking about how he would have answered.

“You must be quite bored working under Jeong Hyeokjae. Should I arrange another job for you?”

“……”

“If you want to play detective, why don’t you do it somewhere else? I’m not free enough to listen to your useless novel.”

He thought he came to understand Han Seung-hyun a bit through recent events, but there was a limit to just the typical villain portrayal in the novel.

Other than getting angry and saying and doing nasty things, how else did he act? How can he act as him in front of this man who knows Han Seung-hyun the best in this world?

“This news may not have reached your informant yet, but now even if I want to return to HJ, there’s no way. I just talked about it again in front of the Chairman today.”

“……”

“Unless the Chairman gets dementia, there won’t be a place for me at the company again.”

“A position is meaningless to you anyway, isn’t it, Director?”

Knowing that, why is he acting like someone who can’t let go of his lingering attachment yet? Seung-hyun frowned and glared at Seok-hyung. What the hell is he thinking?

‘In the novel, Han Seung-hyun’s ending…’

Until the moment he died, he ran around on foot to interfere with Tae-sung’s work and tormented him. Even though he knew he was going to die anyway…

“…You’re plotting something with Jeong Hyeokjae.”

Seung-hyun finally realized why Seok-hyung had come to find him with Hyeokjae. It wasn’t simply to stimulate him. He was creepily a man who knew Han Seung-hyun well.

Even the Han Seung-hyun in the novel didn’t hope to be guaranteed a position. A life with a fixed end. He couldn’t turn the succession structure to himself in just a year, and even if he did, it was meaningless.

Nevertheless, Han Seung-hyun tormented Tae-sung to the end. He endlessly expressed his unresolved inferiority complex and anger towards Tae-sung.

It was no longer to move forward. It was an action solely to hinder Tae-sung. And what Seok-hyung wanted now was also that.

“I will do what you want, Director.”

“What if I tell you to quit now?”

“…I don’t know what change of heart you had, but in the end, you will also be happy, Director.”

Preparations were already finished to some extent. The reason he came to see Seung-hyun today was because he wanted to check how he was doing, but also because he didn’t think Seung-hyun would stay put forever.

But there was nothing to gain from the reunion that only left irrational questions. Seok-hyung, who thought further conversation was meaningless, turned around without lingering.

“I’ll get going now.”

Before Seung-hyun could even ask what he was plotting, Seok-hyung left, and Seung-hyun, whose legs gave out belatedly, sat down on the spot.

“How…”

How did he find out? Although he couldn’t rationally acknowledge it, Seok-hyung was looking into Seung-hyun so accurately that it was scary. To the point where he had to admit that he had underestimated Seok-hyung too much.

More than the chaos Seok-hyung would bring, the gaze that stared straight at him felt more frightening. Seung-hyun couldn’t get up from where he sat for a long time and blankly stared at the closed door.

Only the voice of the announcer in the TV that he couldn’t turn off in time was filling the quiet house. The day before Christmas Eve ended like that, leaving only confusion.