Life is Easier If You’re Handsome - Chapter 28

A dazzling talent graced the stage, making it impossible to bring the curtain down, leaving the end uncertain.  

The performance was filled with disdain and contempt.  

As the keys followed the sheet music, new emotions emerged.  

Even at this moment.

He had only broken pieces to accompany him.  

Lee Jae’s gaze shifted beyond the camera, toward the audience.  

Countless people stared at him, entranced,  

But the ones he truly wanted to see weren’t there.  

Neither his estranged mother.

Nor his father, who had built a new life and treated him as though he didn’t exist.  

None of them came.  

What meaning could this world that lay in shattered fragments possibly hold?  

The feeling of loss, mingled with the anger  hammered down on the piano keys.  

La Campanella.

A piece that, both in the past and the present, was praised for being difficult to play.  

Now, it was being brought to life under the hands of a genius who had grown on a diet of hatred.  

Even to the musically untrained, it was obvious.

Dream High would never be able to surpass Lee Jae.  

How could a mere high school band, despite from a prestigious school, hope to overcome that?  

What could a school club band do against such a performance?  

‘There’s no comparison.’

Edward Park was unable to tear his eyes away from Kim Dong-hoo—no, Lee Jae.  

‘A master.’  

What Lee Jae was displaying was in the realm of mastery.  

An ideal pursued by those who seek perfection,  

A tyrannical talent that mocks others and tramples them to rise higher.  

It was a level so far beyond others that even the shadows of those who spent a lifetime trying couldn’t reach.  

With each strike of the keys, the narrative twisted.  

Could anyone still call for an encore from Dream High after witnessing this?  

Did anyone believe that was possible?  

Lee Jae seemed to ask writer Lee Minha.  

Was it right to offer forced opportunities, claiming to show the beauty of the underdog?  

Lee Minha’s script was clenched tightly in her hands, crumpled.  

She had spent sleepless nights writing this story.  

She had believed with all her heart that this drama would succeed.

That this script which revolved around the rebellion of an underdog triumphing over a genius, where hard work eventually overcomes talent, would be a hit.  

But now—  

‘How arrogant I was.’  

She suddenly realized how unrealistic that story truly was.  

A genius who doesn’t work might be caught by a hardworking ordinary person.  

But what about a hardworking genius?  

Could anyone, no matter how hard they tried, beat a genius who had lost his family, fallen into deep despair, and had nothing left but the piano?  

There was no glimmer of hope in Lee Jae’s eyes.  

He said that such bright hope wasn’t even worth performing for.

It was trash.  

‘What am I even watching?’  

Lee Minha stared blankly at Lee Jae.  

Could that performance really lose?  

Could one simple encore from a school band overturn this moment?  

‘I can’t imagine it.’  

The carefully constructed story she had worked so hard on disappeared from her mind.  

Thud.

The script she was holding fell to the floor.  

The pages became stained with dirt.

Lee Jae would not lose.  

There would be no encore for Dream High.  

And the rigid judges would not change their minds upon seeing Dream High.  

As the performance reached its climax, Lee Minha’s thoughts grew increasingly chaotic.

For the sake of a good ending, Dream High had to win.  

After all, the drama was called Dream High.

How could they lose?  

But—  

‘Will everyone still think that after seeing this?’  

Lee Minha’s gaze shifted from Lee Jae to scan the set.  

She saw faces that were stunned, in shock.  

Some clutched their bodies as if covered in goosebumps.  

Even the cinematographer had lost focus on the camera.  

If they let their attention slip for just a moment, their bodies instinctively leaned toward watching the real Lee Jae. Not the one through the lens.  

The sheer power of talent was smashing the old story to pieces, commanding everyone to face reality.  

*…!*  

At the peak of the performance.

For a moment, Lee Minha felt as though she had locked eyes with Lee Jae.  

‘I am the one you created.’

‘Do you really think it’s right for someone as perfect as me to lose?’

‘Tell those inferior beings—they’ve lost. Declare it right now.’

The intricate melody wrapped around Lee Minha’s throat like a noose,  

the overwhelming presence refusing to allow the story to end in defeat.  

Under the weight of it all, Lee Minha found herself bowing her head without realizing it.  

And in that moment, she understood.  

‘I need to be ready.’

She would need a second story.  

‘The story is going to change.’

For now, they would follow the original script.

Unable to alter the predetermined course.

But the moment Lee Jae was fully revealed to the world.

Everything would unravel.  

———

‘I’m supposed to win against that?’

Jin Soo-hyuk gazed up at Lee Jae’s performance with a bewildered smile.  

How could a high school-level band win against that?  

Even for a drama, it appeared absurd.  

The skill being displayed before him was of a caliber that could easily belong on a concert stage.  

How could they possibly win?  

‘The theme of Dream High has completely lost its relevance.’

It was supposed to be a story of underdogs whose hard work eventually shines.  

A hopeful message that if you keep pushing through your hardships, you can succeed.  

But now, that theme seemed to be tarnished by a single person.  

Kim Dong-hoo.

If it were just about playing the piano, perhaps you could dismiss it as not truly acting.  

But right now, Kim Dong-hoo wasn’t just playing the piano—he was fully playing as Lee Jae.  

His contempt was overflowing, palpable enough for everyone to feel.  

It was like an unrelenting pressure, demanding reverence.  

The difference between him and everyone else was clear.  

He was originally intended to be a villain with only five episodes of screen time, meant to lose. 

But Lee Jae was no longer simply a tool for others to overcome.  

In fact, calling it struggling seemed ridiculous.  

How could you call it struggling when he was so thoroughly trampling everyone beneath him?  

Shake.

His hands trembled slightly.  

Was it Song Cheol-su who was trembling, or Jin Soo-hyuk, the actor playing him?  

The mental strain made it impossible to tell.  

They were supposed to rehearse the encore scene soon.

But his hands wouldn’t move.  

It didn’t matter how hard they tried.  

Lee Jae’s performance was a grave warning that their efforts were pointless.  

His body already knew this.  

———

{Dong-hoo’s POV}

The performance neared its conclusion.  

My time was slowly running out.  

‘More, more, more.’

I wanted to crush those wretched beings further.  

I wanted to show them just how insurmountable the wall of talent was. How utterly meaningless it was to try to break it.  

‘What a shame.’

My ten fingers touched the keys for the final note.  

A clean, resonant sound signaled the end of this display of talent’s overwhelming force.  

But not everything was over.  

I slowly scanned the room.  

Judges were stunned into silence, and people beyond the camera were frozen in disbelief.  

But the faces I longed to see were still absent.  

“…”  

Without a word, I reached for the microphone attached to the grand piano.  

Originally, I was supposed to play the piano and sing.  

But in my quest to show the true limits of genius, everything had been changed.  

To showcase brilliance in its purest form.  

“Thank you for listening.”

With a calm bow to the judges and the audience.

I passed by them and slowly headed backstage.  

The camera followed me, and I gazed up at the ceiling with an empty expression. 

“In the end, no one came again today.”  

A packed audience meant nothing.  

What was the point of a performance if the person who needed to hear it wasn’t there?  

A glance.  

I threw my gaze toward the direction where the Dream High members were standing.  

“Idiots. Laughing without knowing anything.”  

It felt hollow.  

Being left alone after the performance, I found myself filled with a deep self-loathing.  

The reality that I had to feel inferior to those kinds of people,  

envying and resenting those beneath me.

How pitiful I was.  

“… So foolish.”  

It was unbearably shameful.  

Backstage.  

Left alone, the only thing I could do was bury my face in my knees and cry silently.

So no one could hear.  

Cut!!!

As soon as Director Ji Jangmin’s OK signal echoed, I snapped my head up.  

Lee Jae disappeared from my body completely with not a shred of emotion left behind.  

“Dong-hoo! How! How did you come up with this!”  

An ecstatic PD Kim Young-mo rushed toward me, shouting.  

But— 

“Kim Dong-hoo! Can you do this scene multiple times? Are you physically okay?”  

There were others who were even more excited.  

“Kim Dong-hol! How did you interpret Lee Jae this way? Can you explain how you approached the character?”  

“Uh, what?”  

Director Ji Jangmin and writer Lee Minha were both charging toward me at full speed.  

———

After deciding to take a break and shoot more takes from different angles.

I exhaled deeply while chewing on some fish cake.  

‘I was improvising by skipping the singing part, and it worked.’  

Not bad.  

As I sipped the fish cake broth.

“Dong-hoo, here you are.”

Kim Yoo-ryun, the former top actress and mother of Su-jin, approached me.  

“Yes. They said to rest before resuming filming, so I’m taking a break.”  

“Christmas is coming up soon. Do you have any plans?”  

“Uh…”  

Do I?  

A quick glance.  

As soon as I looked toward Seok-ho, he caught on fast and shook his head.  

“No. I don’t have any plans.”  

“Really? Then how about we have a meal together?”  

“That would be an honor for me.”  

“Honor? It’s just a meal.”  

Kim Yoo-ryun smiled warmly, clearly pleased with my response.  

“Oh, by the way, if you’re going to rest, wouldn’t it be better to rest in the classroom?”  

“The classroom?”

“Yeah. It’s indoors, and we even turned on the heater just in case, so it’s really warm. We were resting there earlier too.”  

“Really? Thank you for letting me know.”  

“Just head to the first-floor, first-year classroom.”  

“Got it!”  

‘Wait. There’s a heated place?’

Why didn’t anyone tell me?  

‘Oh well, at least I know now.’

In winter, nothing beats warmth, so I immediately made my way to the first-year classroom.  

‘Why is it so dark?’

Isn’t the rest area supposed to have the lights on?  

As I turned on the lights—  

“Oh, oh?!”  

“Oh wow, it’s been a while, and the first thing you say is ‘Oh, oh?!'”  

“Kim Dong-hoo, you’re out of your mind, aren’t you?”  

For some reason, Su-jin was grinning widely at me, clearly enjoying herself.

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