I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

“Should we blast out calls tomorrow morning to the Luda Entertainment PPL brands? No, wait — it’d be better to contact the entire MCN network. The investment market’s completely frozen right now, so if we scare them just a little, the reaction will be insane.”

Manager Hong cracked his neck to both sides. A dry popping sound echoed.

“I already made the calls on my way here.”

He had grown up in this industry. Right now was especially a time when no one wanted to take risks. He knew the market didn’t favor discovering rookie actors.

There wasn’t a single place that would willingly cast someone tangled in controversy.

“Even if she submits a résumé now, nowhere’s going to call her in for an audition.”

It had been barely over an hour since the incident broke. Manager Hong had already finished organizing the situation.

“She won’t debut. Not anywhere.”

But this was only the beginning.

“Then shall we redirect the aggro somewhere else—.”

Manager Hong interlaced his fingers and twisted them. The cracking sound rang out ominously.

“They touched our girl?”

His half-lidded eyes snapped open. His cold pupils were sharp. Like a blade honed to perfection.

‘But those are all real, right?’

‘Yeah... most likely....’

“I said my eyes might be small, not my ears.”

The target changed.

* * *

“...What do I do? What do I do?!”

Jin Eunseol woke up feeling strangely refreshed. The first thing she checked was her phone.

But it was off. She jerked her head toward the clock.

Past 10 a.m.

“Am I insane....”

She was late. She was supposed to stop by the shop at 8, and be at the filming set by 11. Even if she left now, she wouldn’t make it to the shop without being late.

“First, first I need to call....”

She had no idea why her phone had turned off. While it charged, Eunseol nervously bit her nails the entire time.

“Ah, it’s on—”

Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Bzzzzzzzzzzzz.

The moment the screen lit up, it began vibrating like it had gone mad. Saved numbers. Unsaved numbers. Saved numbers. Unsaved—

“What is this....”

Missed calls, messages, DMs — notifications overlapped chaotically. Among the flood, she spotted the community app she had enabled alerts for.

[Looks like Jin Eunseol’s going to be used as a proper noun like Son Minsoo from now on lolllll legendary creepy queen]

“Why is my name....”

Without realizing it, Jin Eunseol opened the community app. For some reason, she felt like understanding this situation came before explaining herself to the web drama PD.

Her anxious heart made her whole body tingle.

– Son Minsoo looks like an angel compared to her

ㄴ fr, Son Minsoo is better...

– Saw her comment history, she practically lives online every day T_T lololol peak of the peaks, Jin Eunseol ffs

ㄴ LOOOOLLLLL you’re insane

With trembling hands, Eunseol scrolled up. DMs kept arriving even now. Yousta comment notifications continued to buzz.

– She was so desperate to piggyback off her classmates she spam-tagged DaeYeJong lmao transparent af TT_TT

– Honestly even if you debuted you didn’t have the face to blow up..ㅎ Don’t waste your tuition and just drop out (´｡• ◡ •｡`) you can do it fighting!

– I’m genuinely curious but what were you thinking dragging other celebrities like that?

It felt like someone had poured boiling water over her entire body. Her skin burned. Her insides felt scorched. Her teeth began clattering.

[HOT / People losing it because someone worse than Son Minsoo appeared on anon board]

[Issue Board / Why you should stay away from insecure people.jpg]

[WagleWagle Ururukwangkwang / Current DaeYeJong “that person” Yousta comment situation]

“Wh-what do I, what do I do....”

She was about to debut.

First the web drama to get her face known. Then gather followers. Then get cast in a cable drama. Then terrestrial... film... award shows....

“Ah... what do I do.”

Like Han Yeoreum.

No — better than Han Yeoreum.

Not even comparable to someone like Han Yeoreum.

Her life was supposed to soar.

It had to.

Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Bzzzt.

[Luda Entertainment PD]

The call came as she stared blankly at her phone. She had to answer. Even now, she had to say it wasn’t true. That she’d been hacked. That someone maliciously spread rumors—

[Since you’re not answering, I’ll leave a message. There’s no need to come to the filming set.]

She had to—

[You’re aware you’ve caused damage to our company, correct? We’ll be sending documents by courier soon. Please don’t refuse receipt. We’d rather not take this to court.]

“Court?”

Reality snapped back into place. She frantically pressed her missed call list.

– Hello?

The once-gentle voice was gone. What she heard now was cold, openly irritated.

“PD, PD, what do you mean court? What is that supposed to—”

– Eunseol-ssi.

The reply was merciless.

– This isn’t a college group project. Contracts between companies have already been signed. If you’ve caused something of this scale... you need to take responsibility.

PPL. Contracts. Clauses. Stipulations.

The explanation didn’t register.

Only one thing did.

“My debut?”

Her acting life was over.

No drama. No film. No award shows.

Not even a dream of them.

* * *

Manager Ma quickly scanned the uploaded article.

[Luda Entertainment Announces Contract Termination with Controversial Individual... “Though It’s a Web Drama, We Aim to Create a Work with Sincerity”]

“O-kay. One down.”

Now they just needed to bury Jin Eunseol cleanly. The focus couldn’t shift to Han Yeoreum.

“Aggro for aggro. Manager Hong, ready? We starting?”

Manager Ma wedged his phone between his ear and shoulder while speaking with Manager Hong. Everything was already prepared.

It was Monday night. The perfect time for an exhausted public to attack someone.

– Start.

At Manager Hong’s word, the bullet was fired.

[20s Anonymous Board / But isn’t that initial article H.Y.R. lolololol?]

This just came to mind because of today’s controversy — it’s from last summer, an initial article. But doesn’t it scream H.Y.R. and G.J.Y.? T_T They overlapped outfits at an official event once too, kinda sus.

Anon1: What is this now lolololol today’s dopamine is crazy

Anon2: Feels right? H.Y.R. K.G.J.

Anon7: https://www.never.com/news... rumor says they already disliked her because of casting issues ㅎㅎ for those curious~!

Manager Hong had good relationships with reporters. Since last summer’s Ruel Mint Carpet, he could get the occasional initial article posted.

The landmines he’d planted exploded one after another.

Anon11: LOLOLOL finally blew up, ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) so refreshing. No one working here doesn’t know her personality

ㄴAnon18: LOLOLOL our group chat’s on fire right now nice to meet you

ㄴAnon22: Everyone’s so hyped just because it’s anon lolol I’ll PDF this and send it

ㄴAnon11: Go ahead :) If you wanna be her handmaiden so badly maybe start working in beauty...! You can serve her up close lololol seriously ffs

Gi Juye had been in the industry a long time. That meant countless instances of power abuse had piled up.

If you live thinking “everyone else does it, so what?” eventually you get caught somewhere.

Anon101: https://intube.com/... this is Top Class behind-the-scenes, look closely and G.J.Y.’s in the back

ㄴAnon102: holy shit your eyesight

A small frame showed a coordinator kneeling to put shoes on her. Gi Juye stood abruptly before the ankle strap was even fastened. The coordinator’s fingers, scraped by the buckle, recoiled in pain.

It was tiny. Easy to miss.

But the moment was captured, screenshotted, and began circulating through every community and SNS platform.

[20s Anonymous Board / Anyone else’s blood boil every time G.J.Y. got praised as a baby puppy?]

Yup that’s me lololol

(Broadcast station pass.jpg)

Won’t say much. She’s got too many handmaidens^^

Anon1: Honestly shocking this only blew up now. Big agencies really are nice like that

ㄴAnon3: Her image was totally manufactured by the company lolololol

ㄴAnon6: IQ what is happening... you think initials protect you from lawsuits? Wait for the complaint~

ㄴAnon8: I hope G.J.Y. flies out of this industry ffs

Gi Juye had only treated people well when it benefited her. Enough time had passed for the rookies she’d mistreated to climb up.

Reporters, magazine editors, broadcast staff who had shared space with her were now firmly established in the industry.

ㄴAnon42: This is an editor I follow... LOLOLOL that story is such a call-out (screenshot.jpg)

ㄴAnon48: “Terminate Gyeoul” LOLOLOLOL intentional typo, right?

ㄴAnon52: If you were abused, shake the carrot T_T

Between initial articles and anonymous testimonies, not a single staff member posted a heartwarming anecdote defending her.

No one said, “Juye isn’t like that.”

So the atmosphere burned hotter.

“When it gets like this, no one even remembers what the original controversy was.”

Manager Ma refreshed the screen endlessly. Comments rose at terrifying speed.

Anon293: A friend said G.J.Y. used to scroll through other female celebs’ hate comments while waiting. Said it was her hobby lololol

ㄴAnon101: That sounds fake as hell. The fact people believe it is wild

ㄴAnon307: The desperate shields are pathetic...T_T Is G.J.Y. shaking because she’s scared it’ll come out she also leaves hate comments like J.E.S.?

Gi Juye had been right.

People didn’t care much about the truth.

ㄴAnon1019: Staff exposé just dropped, saying G.J.Y.’s not different from J.E.S., her private account just hasn’t been exposed yet lolololl

Even though no private account had been revealed, the public already acted as if one existed.

Baseless rumor became certainty.

Certainty merged with power abuse.

And it erupted into a full-blown personality scandal.

The timing was perfect. The fierce wind of the Korean ban in China was blowing hard.

The idol agency Gi Juye belonged to took a heavy hit. It was natural they couldn’t respond quickly.

“Sir, does that mean Gi Juye won’t be able to work for a while?”

– Obviously. Take away China money and what does she even have?

The situation snowballed. The uneasy moments from Gi Juye’s past surfaced.

Intube

[Finally exploded, the power-abuse queen..Whoa, is it an idol-turned-actress?] 07:22

Views 87,111

– If there were just one or two sus moments you could call it malicious editing LOLOLOL this is just her personality showing

– The tyranny she showed in Top Class wasn’t good acting, that was just her real self T_T

ㄴ Honestly not sure she can even act.. felt like the world was pranking me

ㄴ LOLOLOLL please stop idols from poking into acting TT_TT their hardcore fans insisting they’re good was ridiculous 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

“Fuck! What the hell is this? Why are they dragging me into this?!”

Gi Juye hurled her phone at the wall.

Crash—!

The screen shattered into pieces. Her manager stared at the spiderwebbed glass and sighed.

“Juye, this kind of thing blows over—”

“When?! When does it blow over?! My schedules are already canceled!”

She was anxious. She could already feel herself being pushed out little by little. As the public who once cheered at her mere existence slowly turned their gaze elsewhere, her insecurity grew.

“For now, lie low—”

“...Don’t tell me my meeting got canceled. It didn’t, right? Right?”

At her outburst, her manager exhaled.

‘The brands she models for aren’t in a good mood....’

Those brands had focused heavily on Chinese sales. After the Korean ban began, plummeting revenue made them sensitive.

‘At this rate, not just termination. Penalties too....’

China money became a sharp blade.

One that had reached her chin.

“You’re too worked up. If you keep this up, they’ll find something else to pick at. No SNS for now. Don’t post. We’re coordinating everything with the director—”

“Why! Why! Why!!!! Aaaah!!!”

Even now, posts and videos with her name attached were spreading.

Gi Juye collapsed to the floor.

“Other editors and staff posted stories saying you’re not like that. Fans captured those. Just wait. If we wait—”

“...No. It’s not enough.”

She thought of someone.

This was all Han Yeoreum’s fault.

The last thing she’d seen was a post asking what would’ve happened if Gi Juye had been cast in 〈The Great Garland〉 instead of Han Yeoreum.

“Unnie, call her for me.”

“Her? Who?”

“...My old coordinator. That one.”

If she could just take the coordinator back.

If she could silence this personality scandal that way.

Money didn’t matter.