The Wraith Stretches Her Claws

"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 fifteen-layer 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. But—

—The girl was no antagonist. She was far too impulsive, too straightforward. Innocent, even. She was no match for Yeo Ri, and Yeo Ri realised that the girl couldn't really do any damage to her. Still, it was annoying.

Her demon crawled out of her shadows, purring in her ear, 'Destroy her! Destroy her! Destroy her!'

Opening her mouth, Yeo Ri shakily said, eyes watering, "What rights do you have to say that to me? I don't even know you!" Yeo Ri drew her arms around her body as if to protect herself.

Park Lina scoffed, mocking Yeo Ri's pitiful act. "What? Drop that fake act! Only a blind person can't see through you!"

"Hey, drop it! Why are you acting like this in public? We're all actors here; have some civility!" Won raised his voice, defending the 'poor' girl.

Yeo Ri bit her lips as she shrunk.

—Is this Park Lina stupid? It was so easy to make her the bad one. Wouldn't it be nice to play with her? She was so bitter and aggressive.

Even the devil agreed with her. 'There's only one room for a stupid b*tch here,' he whispered, 'and that's you!'

"Are you guys being serious right now? Can't you all see how fake she is? Someone like this don't belong with the rest of us!" Park Lina said, looking around to see if anyone else would speak up in support for her.

However, nobody did.

Although some of them agreed with her words, they did not agree with her method. Confronting someone about their attitude in public was bad manners. On top of that, so what if that Lee Yeo Ri was pretending to be nice? In this industry, who wasn't pretending? In front of the camera, anyone would pretend to be nice if it would give them some brownie points and screentime.

"That's enough, break it up! The audition is starting. Please sit down and come into this room when your number is called," a staff member immediately appeared to mediate the situation. After finishing her words, the staff member glared at Park Lina, warning her to stop picking fights with other auditionees.

Park Lina shot her a final glare and harrumphed as she stomped away to a far away seat.

Watching the other girl walk away, Yeo Ri tilted her head again. Judging by Park Lina's disposition, she was definitely aiming for the main role. Although Yeo Ri hadn't intended to choose the main lead in the beginning, she had easily changed her mind.

Someone who didn't like her shouldn't exist. Even though she had worked so hard to keep up with her old, naive personality...

'Since you insist on provoking me, should I just steal it away from you?'

A smile bloomed on Yeo Ri's face, perfectly hiding the coldness in her eyes.

'A bit of a squeeze, but still doable...'