The Script Takes Over

The moment Sojin got home, she flopped onto the sofa.

Not wanting to think any more than she had to, she picked up her phone. She wanted to forget everything, whatever it was.

As a change of pace, she tapped open her short-form drama app. It was perfect for zoning out.

She scrolled through, picking out something to binge, when a top-ranked short-form drama caught her eye.

Without a moment's hesitation, Sojin clicked on it.

She set it to autoplay mode, where the shorts rolled on one after another, and stared blankly at the screen.

There was Dohyun, the male lead of the drama. His fiancée, Sera, had cornered him, her eyes brimming with obsession for him.

But to Dohyun, his fiancée was nothing more than a villainess who tormented the woman he loved. He coldly shook off Sera's hand.

"I'm done wasting my time. I don't want Son Yuna misunderstanding, either. I'll be the one to break off the engagement."

"No! You're my fiancé! Why her and not me? Why is Son Yuna allowed and I'm not, when I'm the one you're engaged to?"

"Don't compare yourself to her. Even hearing you say Yuna's name makes me sick."

Now that's the taste of a short-form drama, Sojin thought. A male lead who only had eyes for the heroine, and clear-cut good triumphing over evil.

"Serves her right, tormenting the heroine like that…"

"Yuna."

"…Can you do this to me when you have a fiancée?"

"I broke off the engagement. I told that woman my heart belongs entirely to you."

"…"

"So stop pushing me away."

She liked the drama so much that Sojin put it on autoplay binge mode one more time. Her eyelids kept drooping, then fluttering back open, until finally she lost the battle against sleep and drifted off.

And just as she sank into deep sleep, the short-form drama playing on its own came to an abrupt halt.

A scene lingered on the screen like a painting — Dohyun, smiling at someone.

As the silence stretched on, the bright smile on Dohyun's face suddenly turned frigid.

His frozen gaze shifted somewhere. Toward a certain flower painting displayed in one corner of Sojin's living room.

Then the short-form drama began flipping through scenes on its own.

At an abnormal speed.

"Whatmakesyouthink,Teamleader……"

"Ifyoumakemistakeslikethis……"

"Iloveyouteamleadersomuch……"

The overlapping lines tangled together like dissonant notes, producing a grotesque noise. The madly flipping shorts screen crackled with static — then froze on a single frame.

The scene where a fiancée summons Dohyun and threatens him with marriage.

"It's already been years since we got engaged."

In that instant, the face of the fiancée, Sera, changed into Sojin's in the blink of an eye.

As if an actor had been swapped out mid-scene.

"Next month. You're marrying me."

A confession that felt like a declaration of war.

"Because I fell for you."

The moment Sojin, sprawled on the sofa, faintly vanished, the fiancée's razor-sharp voice spilled from the speakers.

"You don't want to? You, a mere bastard child?"

A vicious tirade laced with a sneering smirk.

"If you won't marry me, Chairman Kang will never acknowledge you. You'll regret turning me down!"

Sojin slowly opened her eyes.

Her blurry vision sharpened, and the scene of an upscale restaurant swam into view.

Her eyes went wide.

"…!"

She bolted upright and looked around frantically.

What? This was… my house, wasn't it…?

Then it struck her — her outfit. A short black dress that clung to every curve. Catching sight of the plunging neckline, she hurriedly pulled her shawl closed.

"What the hell… Is this a dream? Even fever dreams aren't this messed up."

Just as she made to stand, her knee buckled all on its own.

Then a white flower pattern bloomed across her wrist.

My body won't move…!

Sojin desperately pinched her thigh. A small bruise rose on the skin.

Ow! It's a dream, so why does it hurt…? What is going on?

She was still debating whether to slap her own cheek when a soft, low voice reached her.

"You called for me?"

Sojin's head snapped up. Her mouth fell open.

A frame well over 180 centimeters tall, a chiseled jaw, sharp eyes, flawlessly sculpted features — and a teardrop mole just beneath one eye.

He was the actor who played the male lead of Shh! At Work.

Seeing the male lead from the drama she'd been watching before she fell asleep — here, of all places…!

This is definitely a dream. It has to be. Otherwise, there's no way I'd ever be face-to-face with that actor, right?

Quietly reassured, Sojin spoke up.

"Uh, um… you're the male lead of Shh! At Work, right?"

Dohyun's face crumpled in an instant. What nonsense was this woman spouting?

"What on earth are you saying?"

"Wow, incredible. Seeing the male lead inside a dream. You really are gorgeous."

"Ha… Is this why you summoned me? To bable this drivel? After resorting to blackmail?"

"I'm sorry — blackmail?"

What is he talking about?

Dohyun let out a scornful laugh and looked down at Sojin with contempt, as if to say drop the innocent act. Then he stepped toward her, looming, and seized her chin in a rough grip.

"I take it you believe you're a puppet that comes and goes whenever you snap your fingers."

"Why are you doing this…!"

"Never call me out for something like this again. If you do, you won't want to find out what I'll do to you."

Sojin shoved his hand away, cold to the touch.

Just then, a strange sound of keyboard keys rang out beside her ear. Instinctively, she clapped her hands over her ears.

Strange letters floated up before Sojin's eyes.

At the center of the white flower on Sojin's wrist, the words "0%" appeared. Moments later, the letters began to glow white.

She'd only just reflexively skimmed the text when her mouth suddenly began moving on its own.

"It's already been years since we got engaged."

Sojin hastily clapped a hand over her mouth. But she couldn't stop her lips from moving.

"Next month. You're marrying me. Because I fell for you."

Sojin's face burned scarlet.

She wanted to scream that those weren't her words, but her mouth wouldn't obey. It was as if she'd been locked out of saying anything except the assigned lines.

Dohyun's expression twisted into something frightening.

"There it is — your true colors at last. Marry you? Not unless I lose my mind."

Sojin's pupils shook wildly.

Anything but that line!

She fought with everything she had, as if she could bite off her own tongue — but it was no use. In the end, the cruel words slipped out.

"Ha! You don't want to? You, a mere bastard child?"

I've lost it, I've completely lost it! Her heart was pounding like a drum.

She had never once in her life said anything so brazenly insulting.

Dohyun's expression had turned colder than ever. He stared at Sojin with eyes full of pure contempt.

Contrary to her hopes, more insolent words kept spilling from her lips.

"If you won't marry me, Chairman Kang will never acknowledge you. You'll regret turning me down!"

"Think whatever you like. However hard you struggle, you'll never marry me."

There wasn't even contempt left in Dohyun's eyes anymore. He looked at Sojin as one might look at some insignificant insect.

He turned his back on her without a flicker of hesitation.

Watching the man walk away, Sojin collapsed into her chair.

Her legs trembled and her hands shook.

The percentage on her wrist had climbed from 0% to 5%.

"M-my mouth… it moved on its own…"

The Script Dialogue Window, meanwhile, faded away without a trace, as if it had never been there at all.

Sojin hurried out of the restaurant.

The tall, glamorous heels felt so awkward underfoot that she wobbled her way down the street. As she walked in a daze, she grimaced and touched her heel.

"Ow…"

There was blood on her fingertip. Even a glance made it clear the skin had rubbed raw.

She tried walking again, but the wound kept scraping against the shoe, stinging with every step.

Like I'd ever have worn something like this before.

Sojin let out a sigh and, without a shred of hesitation, took the heels off.

Carrying them in one hand, she walked the street barefoot, glancing around at her surroundings.

Towering buildings, bars, banks she'd never seen before. It resembled her own world, yet was eerily different.

And then there was the appearance of Dohyun, the male lead himself. The question could it be…? circled in her head, but she forced herself to swallow it.

"What was that, back there…?"

Lines she'd clearly heard in a short-form drama had floated up in midair. And she'd been forced to speak them.

"…It said 'Fiancée,' didn't it."

She wanted to believe it was all a dream — but a dream couldn't explain the throbbing sting in her heel.

Just then, a sleek black sedan glided to a stop beside Sojin, its hazard lights blinking.