I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

Seo Eden being so obviously dying over Han Yeoreum’s cuteness is way too visible. He’s on a completely different level compared to the other MCs T_T

He genuinely bursts just from looking at her face, and Seo Eden treats Han Yeoreum like an actual boyfriend would... you know what I mean? Like he wants to see his girlfriend’s aegyo—he keeps dumping all the cute challenges on her lololol

The pic is my favorite name-couple♥︎

(A photo of the two of them smiling while hosting Music N.jpg)

I-leum.

Now there was even a word people used to call Seo Eden and Han Yeoreum together.

“Han Yeoreum’s overseas followers went up after she became an MC on Music N too.... The nerve....”

It was entirely thanks to riding Seo Eden’s coattails—his overseas recognition was high. Foreign viewers who watched Music N liked bundling Seo Eden and Han Yeoreum together, calling them I-leum.

“No matter how good her image is right now—. If fans turn on you, your image hits rock bottom in an instant....”

The view count had already passed 200,000.

Even though over 400 people had clicked the dislike icon, the number of likes was about the same.

“You knew it would be like this. The more Han Yeoreum runs around everywhere, the more people she’ll rub the wrong way.”

-Guess they don’t know Seo Eden’s a homebody and a hyung-collector lolol Just looks like someone who doesn’t know idol fandom culture but keeps yapping T_T... (308 upvotes)

︎˪For real lolol You can totally tell they only dipped their toes into Seo Eden’s yume scene and bounced. I hate these yume-brained newbie fans so much

︎˪Here we go again, fans starting their mental gymnastics

Drk- drk- drk-.

Her eyes darted rapidly from left to right as she read the comments. The sound of the mouse wheel scrolling rang nonstop.

-But aren’t they treating Han Yeoreum way too much like a baby? I don’t like that vibe ㅂㄹ She’s twenty and a full adult, it kind of puts me off...T_T Though as MCs they do show good balance (98 upvotes)

︎˪I don’t even know where to start criticizing this one

“So... she really needs to stop overdoing it....”

A laugh slipped out from between her thin lips, climbing endlessly upward.

Unlike last time, the atmosphere was split down the middle. As expected, there was no better target of attack than a female celebrity.

[Would you like to log out?]

Click-.

She immediately logged back in with another ID and started typing rapidly.

Input: Girls who look like Han Yeoreum are usually hardcore confident types lololol That’s totally a face that never stays single

If it were outright malicious comments, there would naturally be punishment—but comments at this level were safely within the line.

“But creating this kind of atmosphere....”

Was a devastating blow to that celebrity. Why else would agencies work so hard to build an image?

A celebrity was practically a brand. No matter what, they lived and died by image.

So she {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} wanted Han Yeoreum to fall apart before she could properly establish herself.

“...If not Han Yeoreum, then at least....”

Her bloodshot eyes slowly lifted from the screen.

The room’s walls were practically wallpapered with posters of Do Gyeoul’s new soju advertisement.

“It would’ve been nice if Gyeoul had gotten the Music N MC spot....”

On the same portal site where the post about Han Yeoreum had been uploaded, an article about caught her eye. The corners of her mouth, which had been lifted just moments ago, instantly fell back into place.

“She’s not even the lead....”

The bright light of the monitor cast shadows over her now expressionless face.

“Just—just—just...! A supporting role, and she dares...!”

Unable to control her trembling body, she groped around and grabbed the mouse again.

Then she clicked into the article, scrolling down and hitting the dislike button first.

-Lately she’s the most eye-catching rookie actress lolol Her pronunciation’s good too, nice casting (11 upvotes)

-You need one of those scene-stealer roles, action movies get boring if it’s all old dudes~ nothing but swearing nonstop, tsk (23 upvotes)

-The influencer role’s decent. The red hair’s a bit NG tho lol... but kids these days dye their hair pretty freely, so whatever (8 upvotes)

Click- click- click-.

She proceeded to downvote every single comment that was favorable toward Han Yeoreum.

“So annoying....”

Her muttered words dissolved as she bit down on her thumb. A grinding sound followed, and blood seeped from her fingertip.

Bzzz-. Bzzz-. Bzzz-.

That was when it happened. The phone beside her laptop vibrated irritatingly. She glanced once at the name on the screen and took a deep breath.

Then, as if nothing had happened, she answered in a bright voice.

“Yeah. What’s up?”

The person on the other end sounded so cheerful, they couldn’t possibly guess what had just happened.

-Eunseol! Are you free this weekend? We said we’d get our nails done together last time. It’s a place that does two people at once. I told the owner you bite your nails, and she said to bring you in right away.

Eunseol glanced briefly at her chewed-up fingers and replied gently.

“Yeah. Want to do that?”

-You really need to fix that nail-biting habit fast. So you can go around to auditions.

“I know....”

Some people had to go around auditioning, while others lived in an unfair world where JC ENM pushed them excessively.

“It’s not easy.”

Eunseol smiled bitterly.

* * *

“Oh, unni, look at this. I’m totally a star. People are talking about me everywhere these days.”

“What is this? Looking at ugly stuff like this rots your mind... seriously. If you look closely, you always end up searching the weirdest things?”

I couldn’t stop my chest from swelling as I looked at the post sitting in Best. It had already made Best several times.

Some days it was praise, some days subtle hate posts.

“They say antis and fans go hand in hand... this is seriously insane. I’ve grown this much....”

Goodbye to my Screaming Woman 1 days. I’d really risen as much as one could rise.

‘Who am I?’

A rising actress named Han Yeoreum—winner of the Jury’s Special Award at the Seoul Drama Awards, achiever of a 247% Blu-ray sales rate through a web drama, someone who had one whole fan attend an awards ceremony, a face featured in the teaser trailer of this year’s most anticipated project , the lead of the legendary Geum Bitgang’s comeback work , and now someone who even had hate posts on portal sites.

“Stop staring at that and come stand in front already.”

Dok Gomin, camera in hand, motioned me over.

I placed a hand over my still-thumping heart. I felt like I needed to add one more line to who I was.

[The sikhye and dried persimmons belong to the protagonist! The team supports ]

To Han Yeoreum, who received the coffee truck.

‘Well, I did extort about half of it.’

I recalled what had happened a few days earlier. The moment my first filming schedule was confirmed, I’d called Choo Gaeul.

-What’s this? You’re calling first for once? You’re slow at replying to texts too.

Because you contact me from the moment you open your eyes to the moment you close them...

The words rose to the tip of my tongue, but I barely swallowed them back down.

Contrary to appearances, Choo Gaeul was very much a girlish type. Like a middle schooler’s sensibilities frozen in time.

‘She sulked so badly when I couldn’t contact her during the group lodging....’

It took a while to smooth things over. Even then, she still seemed half-sulking as she snapped at me.

I spoke gently to my precious friend.

“Gaeul. Send me a coffee truck.”

-You contacted me just for that!!!

“I’ve always wanted to do this at least once... posting a coffee truck verification shot....”

Choo Gaeul yelled in disbelief, but she didn’t hang up. Proof that she’d half-given in.

“Okay... then I’ll ask someone else.”

-What? Who else do you even know besides me?

“Sorry for making you uncomfortable... forget I said anything... I just thought your first coffee truck being from your closest friend would make the best memory... No, never mind. What am I even saying.”

-Hey! Han Yeoreum! Wait!

For reference, the only actors I knew were Choo Gaeul and Joo Junseo. This was a bluff.

I wasn’t close with Yun Hyeonjo, and the same went for Kwak Cheolsik. And I knew what seniority was, so elders were excluded.

“When it’s your turn, Gaeul, I’ll still be the first to send you one... You’re definitely going to be a lead actress....”

-Hey! Who said I wouldn’t?!

That was how Choo Gaeul got hooked. Just as I was about to move on to Joo Junseo next—

Bzzz-.

[Choo Gaeul: What should we put on the coffee truck message? Should I just decide?]

Choo Gaeul sent the message in the group chat, clearly for Joo Junseo to see. Less than three seconds later, my phone rang.

“Hello...?”

-Are you seriously dividing people by closeness right now? Why’d you make Gaeul post a conversation you had with her in the group chat? I’ve been watching you for a while now....

Did Joo Junseo have a good memory or a bad one? His scoldings were so frequent they’d evolved into a well-structured format, customized perfectly for each situation.

“Of course! Our team is family! Gaeul and sunbae should do it together!”

Honestly, I wanted to get one each from Gaeul and Joo Junseo—two in total.

That way, I’d look cooler.

-...Then why did you tell her first?

“Sunbae, we needed to discuss the details with Gaeul so we wouldn’t steal time from you while you’re filming in Hong Kong. I’m hurt, seriously... our shallow relationship... stained with distrust and neglect....”

-You don’t need to go that far. Fine. Hang up then.

Even without sending a groveling emoji, Joo Junseo had softened. Playing pitiful really did work.

I could practically see Joo Junseo’s manager’s face floating in the air, looking at me like I know exactly what you’re doing.

“Nice. Coffee truck success.”

I looked at the coffee truck sitting in front of me. A lot had happened, but no matter what, it was my first-ever coffee truck. My face was plastered all over it.

Anyone could tell it was meant for Han Yeoreum.

“Unni! Take lots of pictures of me!”

“Yeah, yeah. Even if you didn’t say it, I would.”

I took photos with the coffee truck I’d dreamed of. I told myself to smile just the right amount, but it wasn’t easy.

Yeah. This was Han Yeoreum’s set.

A place where my name could stay big and bold.

At last, the first shoot of began.

* * *

This was the Namyangju Comprehensive Filming Studio in Gyeonggi Province.

Operated by the Korean Academy of Film Arts and the Korean Film Archive, it could perfectly shoot not only traditional hanok sets but also urban and everyday spaces.

Stone walls, gardens, market alleys—along with hospitals, police stations, schools, apartments. There was no set they didn’t have. Located on the outskirts of the city, it even had mountains and rivers nearby, making it deeply beloved by broadcasters.

‘They can even build custom sets. There’s really no place better than this!’

Aside from a few scenes set aside for regional location shoots, was scheduled to be filmed entirely at the Namyangju studio.

Watching Yeoreum cheer endlessly in front of the coffee truck, Director Jjang smiled with satisfaction.

“Alright! Ms. Yeoreum! We’ll be done setting up soon, so get ready!”

“Yes—! Understood!”

Waving broadly with a face showing not a trace of nerves, Yeoreum soon transformed completely into Seoryeong.

Dressed in a worn cotton hanbok and ragged straw sandals, she looked shabby—but her eyes sparkled brighter than any jewel.

The Seoryeong Yeoreum completed looked like a young beast, curious about the world.