ILHBO C1

This Life, Not a Husband—An Oscar Instead
Episode 1

Four years ago.

I received a proposal under the bridge over the Han River, on a cruise ship.

“Ha Eunrae! Marry me!”

It was an extravagant proposal—fireworks bursting everywhere, even an orchestra playing.

And that wasn’t all.

Luxurious roses, an expensive diamond ring.

It was nothing like the quiet, modest proposals where I would usually sing a song.

“Eunrae, I’ll make your wish come true.”

“My wish?”

“Retire from acting, and let’s get married, have kids, and live happily together.”

If I had only heard that much, I would never have accepted.

The problem was what came next.

“You said you wanted a real family.”

A real family.

Those words made me accept a proposal that didn’t even suit my taste.

Instead of taking the next film from a rising, successful director, I ended up taking Kim Do-woon’s hand.

Ridiculously.

I had been swayed by just one sentence.

Four years later.

“The Oscar goes to Director Park!”

That once-promising director, Park Seo-woo, had won an Oscar in the United States.

The Academy Awards—the most prestigious film ceremony in the world.

And among them, the Best Director award, something nearly impossible for a non-English-language film.

He stood there in a bow tie, smiling with a face more refined and handsome than most actors.

Beside him stood Kang Yeji, who had been nominated for Best Actress in the same film I had rejected.

Meanwhile, I—

“Kim Do-woon. Answer me properly. Did you sleep with that woman?”

I had become the protagonist of a cheap morning drama, spouting cliché lines.

Smoke was rising from Kim Do-woon’s red sports car, and I was the one responsible for it.

From the hotel where my husband was seen with another woman all the way to this Han River bridge, it was like filming a car-chase scene—except I had slammed directly into the back of his sports car.

Kim Do-woon screamed at me, his face red with rage.

“Have you lost your mind?! Do you know how expensive this car is?!”

“You’re the one who’s lost your mind.”

I pointed at the woman in the passenger seat of his car, who was calmly putting on sunglasses with an exhausted expression.

She was someone I knew very well.

The top actress Kang Yeji, currently all over the news after attending the Oscars.

The same Kang Yeji who went to the Oscars instead of me was now sitting in my husband’s passenger seat.

“I asked you if you slept with her.”

My voice was clear and steady, trained from years of acting.

Kim Do-woon clicked his tongue, irritated, and pointed at me.

“Can’t we talk somewhere else? Do you know how much Yeji’s stock is rising right now? And you’re making a scene on the Han River bridge?!”

“Forget it, Do-woon. I already called my manager. I’ll go with his car.”

Kang Yeji lowered the window and waved her hand lazily without even showing her face.

Her calmness only made my boiling anger start to cool.

At her, who looked more comfortable beside Kim Do-woon than I ever had.

At him, who seemed to care more about Kang Yeji than me.

At the two of them, who looked so naturally familiar together.

Where anger had been, despair and sadness now flooded in.

So this is what it feels like.

I had seen countless dramas and films about infidelity.

I had even acted in them myself.

Every time, I wondered—does anger come first, or sadness, or resignation?

But none of that mattered.

They came and went like tides, overlapping and reversing.

“Why… did you do it?”

My voice came out hollow.

Kim Do-woon looked at me as if I had asked something ridiculous.

The man who once begged me to marry him with a face full of love.

“Can’t you see?”

“That’s why I’m asking.”

Without realizing it, I reached toward his hand.

He pulled away in disgust.

Of course he did.

To him now, I was no longer “family.”

In the end… I was alone again.

“She’s more successful than you, prettier than you, from a better family, earns more than you. What exactly do you have over her? I told you to take care of yourself.”

He looked me up and down in my plain jeans and T-shirt.

“When was the last time you even wore makeup?”

—

“Bare-faced, you’re cute. Only I get to see you like this.”

His old words flashed through my mind.

It felt like ice piercing my chest.

“Your husband is the channel’s executive director. Do you know how many pretty actresses he sees? But when he sees you in an apron smelling like kimchi stew, it ruins his appetite!”

—

“I think you’re prettier when you cook than when you act. My one and only wife.”

A sense of emptiness washed over me, as if the past four years of marriage had turned to ashes.

“You said you’d become my real family.”

A flashy mother. A father who drank himself into a mess. An older brother chasing quick money.

—

“You must’ve had it so hard, Eunrae.”

He shouldn’t have said that.

If he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have chosen him.

I wouldn’t have given up acting—the only lifeline of my miserable life—to take his hand.

At that moment, a black van pulled up.

The door opened, revealing a familiar face.

Hong Jong-ho.

My former manager.

—

“You know that role is perfect for you. You don’t have to get married so early.”

He was the only one who had tried to stop me until the very end.

He looked at me with a miserable expression, then turned toward the sports car when I avoided his gaze.

He helped Kang Yeji—now limping—into the van.

“Sir, please take us to the hospital. Car accidents can have serious aftereffects.”

“Ah… alright.”

As he closed the van door, I realized something.

What I had lost wasn’t my husband, Kim Do-woon.

By taking his hand…

I had lost everything else.

The opportunities that once excited me.

The sets where my heart used to race.

The audiences who held their breath watching my films.

The nights I read freshly printed scripts with Hong Jong-ho.

All of it.

I lost everything—

for a man like this.

Slap!

I slapped Kim Do-woon across the face and threw the ring from my finger.

He watched it roll away and shouted, face twisted.

“Are you insane?! That diamond is worth—!”

He ran after it into the road.

And then—

A large truck came speeding toward him.

“…Ah.”

He was going to get hit.

Just as I thought that—

The truck suddenly swerved.

Toward me.

My body lifted into the air.

The sky grew closer.

The black waters of the Han River filled my vision.

Time slowed, like a movie in slow motion.

And I understood clearly.

I was—

I was going to die like this.

If there is another life, I will never choose you again, Kim Do-woon.

At that moment—

Something suddenly appeared before my eyes.

[“Ha Eunrae” Wiki Search Result!]

A wiki? That’s what celebrities hate the most.

A public information site anyone can edit—where even embarrassing pasts get permanently recorded.

Why is this—

[Ha Eunrae]

XXXX.XX.XX – XXXX.XX.XX (Died in a traffic accident)

– Overview
South Korean actress

– Career
Appeared in a successful noir film as a supporting role. Became famous for a nude scene. Later appeared in several dramas and films, but despite her distinctive visuals, she was criticized for poor role selection and lack of direction from her agency—

Then fell into ruin due to a debt controversy!

…Even while dying, this is infuriating.

Later, she died after running into an oncoming car (the driver suffered only minor injuries but experienced severe trauma. Considered a highly controversial death due to causing public nuisance).

Only two industry attendees were present at her empty funeral: manager Hong Jong-ho and director Park Seo-woo.

However… such a person is given another chance?

Another chance?

[Wiki edit permission granted.]
[Would you like to edit the wiki?]

I don’t know what this is, but—

“If I’m dying anyway, I’m not leaving behind this kind of trash record. And I’m not a nuisance death! I died because of Kim Do-woon!”

I shouted immediately.

“Yes.”