Chapter 121

"Nevertheless, she was loved. So it's clear that she was a beautiful and remarkable woman," Woo-Jin said.

Apart from her physical beauty, her soul was truly dignified and dazzling. She caught people's attention wherever she went and was easily loved by everyone. Her evaluation in the present day was based on the remaining data passed down through the ages, but at that time, she was infinitely loved by the civilians as the queen, and her physical beauty was flawless.

Woo-Jin described it as the arrogance of people who were loved, but there was something about her confidence that always charmed and captivated other people. As she got older, these traits became more prominent.

"So, please portray her well, Oh Ha-Na. She was the most loved and publicly adored woman in Joseon back then," Woo-Jin requested.

"The most loved?"

"Even though it's still in the literature, people's affection for Queen Yoon seemed to pose a threat to Queen Moon-Jin. Putting her relationships aside, it was evident that she was someone who shone beautifully all by herself. As the queen, her compassion for the civilians was not lacking in any way." Woo-Jin calmly answered Oh Ha-Na's question. Prince Myeong-Hwan was the only person Yoon Hwa-Eun treated with cruelty and disdain. As the queen and mother of the nation, she was deserving of praise.

After hearing Woo-Jin's response, Oh Ha-Na looked at him for quite some time. Finally, she blushed slightly and turned her head away.

"Well, then...let's do our best." Oh Ha-Na nodded as she thought of something. She covered her flushed cheeks with both hands, feeling embarrassed. Every time she glanced at Woo-Jin, her face became more and more flushed. In the end, Oh Ha-Na could not tolerate it anymore and broke the silence first as Woo-Jin quietly watched her.

"When are you going to confess to me?"

"About what?" Woo-Jin asked.

"A confession," Oh Ha-Na prompted.

"Yeah, a confession about what?"

Woo-Jin looked cautiously at Oh Ha-Na, wondering what to say to her, as she was blushing and acting very shy. Just then, Oh Ha-Na's face couldn't get any redder; she suddenly became furious and yelled at him.

"When are you going to confess your feelings for me?"

"Whose feelings for...who?" Woo-Jin was shocked by her sudden outburst and responded to her question with another question.

"You like me, don't you?"

"Me? You? Are you insane?" Woo-Jin was so shocked; he pointed at himself before pointing at Oh Ha-Na as he looked around and asked. It was unknown whether he was asking whether he was insane to like her or she was insane to like him. But that just showed how overwhelmed he was by this that he didn't make any sense. It was so ridiculous that even Kang Ho-Soo and Hwang Yi-Young reacted in the same way — they looked at Oh Ha-Na as though she had gone insane. Oh Ha-Na was jumping to conclusions without analyzing the situation step by step.

In this entire scenario, only Oh Ha-Na's manager was calm and collected. But ultimately, he couldn't help but despair because he felt very frustrated at not being able to stop her outburst from happening.

"You don't have to try so hard to lie about it. Because I've already noticed your feelings for me." Oh Ha-Na persisted in persuading Woo-Jin to confess his feelings.

"How in the world did you misunderstand and arrive at that conclusion?" While Woo-Jin was flustered, he also wanted to distance himself from Oh Ha-Na, so the tone of his voice was very stern.

"It's hard not to notice how much you like me when we act together." Oh Ha-Na covered her cheeks with both hands and looked at Woo-Jin with a disgruntled look in her eyes. She was resentful towards Woo-Jin for not confessing to her, forcing her to say those words as he continued denying his feelings and was upset about it.

"Isn't it just acting, though?"

"What kind of acting looks that real? The last time we kissed...it was so sensual and passionate...." Oh Ha-Na asserted that nobody could act like that unless they truly felt that way. Woo-Jin was completely taken aback by the absurdity of her words.

"I've been acting like that all this while!"

"I'm a very experienced actress. Did you think I couldn't differentiate reality from acting! I can tell just by looking into your eyes. I can feel how much you love me, so do you know how shy I get every time we act together in the same scenes?"

Woo-Jin wanted to tell her that if she wanted to call her previous acting 'experience,' she should just throw it away, but he held himself back. Even though she had ten years of acting experience, the love scenes Oh Ha-Na had done thus far were about young, innocent love. Additionally, the other actors she had worked with were also young and were actors who started off as K-pop idols at best.

This was Oh Ha-Na's first time acting as an adult, working with another full-fledged adult actor. Even though she was fairly good at acting, many of her previous co-actors were terrible actors. Their acting skills were frankly embarrassing compared to Chae Woo-Jin's acting skills. Oh Ha-Na had been accustomed to the way they acted out love scenarios, so her mind was currently in total chaos. Without realizing all of that, she was certain Woo-Jin truly loved her.

"I've been thinking about it a lot, and I think you're good enough to be my boyfriend. So let's officially start dating from today onwards." Oh Ha-Na said it as though it was only natural for both of them to date, so Woo-Jin gestured disapprovingly to her.

"What do you mean 'start dating today!' I think there's been a misunderstanding between us. I have absolutely no romantic interest in you. I'm sorry if you misunderstood my intentions because of my acting skills, but we're acting as a pair of lovers — if the viewers can't feel the love between the characters, wouldn't that be a greater problem?"

Despite Woo-Jin's explanation, the look on Oh Ha-Na's face suggested that she didn't comprehend the situation at all. On the contrary, she looked rather frustrated because she didn't understand why Woo-Jin was trying his best to hide his feelings.

"Let me put it in simpler terms. I have only acted as Prince Myeong-Hwan and portrayed his love for Yoon Hwa-Eun. If you've detected any romantic feelings from my actions, it was simply my character's love for Yoon Hwa-Eun — not my feelings toward you," Woo-Jin said plainly. Kang Ho-Soo and Hwang Yi-Young nodded vigorously in agreement. Standing next to them, Oh Ha-Na's manager was so embarrassed that he couldn't raise his head.

"So you're telling me everything is all a lie?" Oh Ha-Na asked.

"It's not a lie — it's just acting."

"Then why did you kiss me like that?"

"What did I do?" Woo-Jin hadn't done anything apart from acting; he was so frustrated that he subconsciously raised his voice.

"You treated me as though you truly loved me...like I was the most precious person to you in the whole world. You didn't just kiss me on the lips, but you also used your tongue and gently hugged me...." Oh Ha-Na recalled what happened previously and blushed. She was feeling very embarrassed. She had pecked a lot of actors on the lips in her previous shows and movies, but it was her first time kissing anybody so passionately for a scene like she did with Woo-Jin.

"Wait, wasn't that agreed upon with the director during the rehearsal! Don't tell me Actor Chae Woo-Jin forced you to act in such a manner without getting your consent?" Kang Ho-Soo eventually stepped in and defended Woo-Jin as he could no longer sit back and listen to their interaction without doing anything. However, he was very careful with every word he said because Woo-Jin could be accused of sexual harassment if something went awry.

"That's not the case, but...."

"Hyung! I'll explain it to Miss Ha-Na myself," Woo-Jin interrupted. Kang Ho-Soo had a huge physique and an intimidating face; when he questioned Oh Ha-Na with a grimace, the latter was startled and hiccuped. Woo-Jin gently massaged his temples and began to break everything down for Oh Ha-Na, explaining step by step.

"I don't know what type of acting you've done or the acting style of the actors you've worked with, but that's how I normally act. If I'm acting out a scene with my lover, isn't it only natural for me to act like that?" None of the actresses Woo-Jin had worked with thus far had misunderstood his acting for true intentions, so he never imagined something like this would happen now.

"You're lying! You acted even more passionately only because it's me, no? If another actress played Yoon Hwa-Eun, you wouldn't have acted like that." Oh Ha-Na's face full of confidence portrayed her stubbornness to only see what she wanted to believe in.

"Then let me explain it from a different angle. What would have happened if you played the prince's wife, Lady Park?"

"The prince's wife, Lady Park?" Lady Park was the woman Prince Myeong-Hwan married hastily under Queen Moon-Jin's orders after Yoon Hwa-Eun became the queen. Woo-Jin referred to her as 'the prince's wife Lady Park' as her name was not recorded in history. As soon as Woo-Jin mentioned her, Oh Ha-Na shrank back. She was reminded of the shoot that took place a few days ago.

"You were present during the shoot where I shot the scene with the prince's wife, Lady Park, not too long ago, right? If you were playing Lady Park, I would have acted in the same way."

Oh Ha-Na was shocked after hearing Woo-Jin's explanation. She had been so horrified by how cold Woo-Jin's acting was during his scene with Lady Park that her legs had given way. That was the same with the actress at the receiving end of his acting. Her legs gave way after looking into Woo-Jin's eyes, causing her to collapse to the floor. Thus, there were several bad takes. Seeing that had convinced Oh Ha-Na even more that Woo-Jin liked her.

"I think my acting doesn't change because of who the other actor is — it's dependent on the other person's role."

"But if I were the prince's wife...if I were the prince's wife, you would have acted the same way too?"

"Isn't it normal for me to do that? If my acting changes because of who the other actor is, what kind of an actor would I be?"

After Woo-Jin explained as clearly as he could, tears began to well up in Oh Ha-Na's eyes as she stared at his face. Everyone, including Woo-Jin, instantly had a look on their faces that seemed to say, 'Not again?'

"How could you draw a comparison to the prince's wife out of so many different characters? You're too much!" Looking at her running away with tears in her eyes, it seemed like Oh Ha-Na both understood and didn't understand what he was telling her.

Her manager was about to run after her but stopped in his tracks and turned to Woo-Jin before apologizing profusely. "I'm sorry. Ha-Na is very naive, so it seems like she had momentarily misunderstood acting for reality. Please... I will explain things to Ha-Na and get her to understand."

"Didn't this happen today because you failed to make her understand?" Oh Ha-Na's manager flinched when Kang Ho-Soo questioned him and avoided his gaze. He had also tried explaining the situation to Oh Ha-Na, but to no avail. She was the type of person who was inclined to believe what she thought was true, so she wouldn't accept any other explanations until she understood the situation herself. And if she couldn't win, she would try to get out of the situation by crying, so her manager couldn't do anything. She had developed this bad habit since she was a child because the people around her kept giving in to her whenever she cried.

"I'm sorry. I'll do whatever I can to figure out a way to make her understand. This all happened because Chae Woo-Jin is really good at acting, so please don't think too badly of her." Seeing Oh Ha-Na's manager wrapping up the conversation hastily before chasing after her, Hwang Yi-Young clicked her tongue because she was dumbfounded.

"Regardless of how young she is, she has a lot of experience in acting, and yet she can't tell the difference between acting and reality? What's going to happen if she runs her mouth and spreads untrue things about Woo-Jin, making him seem like a creep?" Hwang Yi-Young said.

In truth, Oh Ha-Na wasn't the only person who felt that way. After seeing him act, the staff had also misunderstood and thought Woo-Jin might have had real feelings for Oh Ha-Na. The ambience emitted by Prince Myeong-Hwan, a man who loved Yoon Hwa-Eun, was no joke; it was so warm, beautiful, and bright that it was dazzling.

"I'll report this matter first. It is necessary for us to lodge a clear complaint to the agency and draw a clear line," Kang Ho-Soo said.

"I'm worried that delusional kids like her would become stalkers later on." Hwang Yi-Young had seen many stalkers stalking idols before, so she shuddered and asked Woo-Jin if he was okay.