I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

This was the KBC Media Management Department.

The division primarily responsible for managing the Intube channel was thick with tension.

“Alright... uploading?”

Since 〈The Great Garland〉 had been moved up in schedule, the trailer release had also been pushed forward.

In the current drama landscape, where maintaining even single-digit ratings was considered a struggle, it was no exaggeration to say KBC was betting everything on this one production.

“...Wait. Seriously, just a second.”

The staff member about to press the upload button took a deep breath.

“Is it really okay to release it like this?”

At the moment, 〈The Great Garland〉 was severely lacking in promotional buildup.

Normally, drama promotion was a full-scale project—trailers, teaser cuts, interviews, posters, a press conference.

But due to the sudden scheduling shift, they had barely managed to squeeze in a production press event between filming days. No teaser stills. No interviews. No posters.

And Director Ja had said this:

“Just upload it.”

Self-centered Director Ja had somehow evolved into excessively confident Director Ja.

The head of the KBC Drama Center had even asked if he’d lost his mind, but his answer hadn’t changed.

“Teasers, interviews, posters, whatever that stuff is. Just cover it all with one trailer.”

The Center Director nearly grabbed the back of his neck in despair, but there was no choice but to follow Director Ja’s call.

Budget was tight. The early cancellations of previous dramas had dealt KBC a painful financial blow.

To make matters worse, news of NetHolics Korea entering the market meant the network had to tighten its belt even further.

“...No. Upload it now.”

“Director! If you just follow Director Ja blindly—”

“I’m not trusting him.”

The Center Director, seated beside them, inhaled deeply. The moment the trailer was finalized, he had been the first to watch it.

“I’m trusting my own eye.”

And because of that, he could understand Director Ja’s stubbornness to a certain extent.

Click.

Without warning, the trailer for 〈The Great Garland〉 went live on the Intube KBC Drama channel.

It was a full-fledged guerrilla drop.

* * *

Old archival footage appeared.

The black-and-white film recorded war.

Fighter planes slicing through the sky in perfect formation. Bombs dropping. The heavy thud of military boots. Japanese soldiers marching forward with rifles slung over their shoulders.

Then blackout.

Boom.

A massive explosion.

– Fellow compatriots of Joseon, Japan has surrendered unconditionally!

The anchor’s voice rang with barely concealed elation.

– President Truman has announced that Allied forces have been ordered to cease offensive operations.

The scene shifted to the beautiful city of Kobe.

In an expensive Japanese-style residence so lavish it left nowhere to rest one’s eyes, Hanamura watched the broadcast through clenched teeth. Beside him, his daughter Huijae posed for photographs in a costly kimono.

Her jet-black hair swayed just below her chin.

Though her lips curved upward like a painting, her eyes seemed neither smiling nor crying.

They carried the weight of loneliness accumulated over many years.

Click.

Then, crackling through low-quality audio, the national anthem began.

– Until the East Sea’s waters run dry and Mount Baekdu wears away...

And with that melody, the screen filled with a blue ocean.

In an instant, the space changed.

This was Joseon.

The Japanese flags fell one by one into the sea, as if committing suicide, and eventually sank beneath the surface.

The dark tone of the screen shifted completely.

A vibrant harbor came into view. A ship’s horn announced the start of a new day.

Wooooo—

Bright. Cheerful. Alive.

Joseon citizens moved busily through their daily lives.

– Hey, you there!

– Hurry it up! At this rate we’ll miss the boat!

An elderly woman shouting to sell even one more fish from her overflowing stall. Lines of people boarding docked ships. Men running while pulling wooden carts.

And then—

– Taeseok! Come here!

– Yes!

Among them, Taeseok turned around after dropping a heavy load with a thud, wiping sweat from his neck with a towel.

Under roughly cropped hair, his straight forehead showed. Calm eyes. Shoulders broad as though bearing the sea itself.

The boisterous, energetic life of Taeseok.

The quiet, beautiful life of Huijae.

They seemed to walk parallel lines, their lives entirely different.

The drone shot of the meticulously constructed Jinhae set intercut the scene—wooden storefronts, grime-darkened signboards, dusty alleys that kicked up clouds whenever someone ran through them.

And then—

Huijae’s radiant smile.

Eyes shining as if determined to illuminate this worn, shabby world.

A smile that made you look forward to tomorrow.

Boom.

Another explosion layered over the image.

– This is Seoul. North Korean forces have crossed the 38th parallel and begun their invasion. The military and police are responding immediately...

Taeseok, once a boy, now stood in the middle of a battlefield.

He was still shabby.

Blood trickled from scratches on his cheek. Soot stained his face. After barely helping a comrade back, Taeseok instinctively reached for the back of his neck.

The necklace was gone.

The screen slowed.

He turned back and ran toward the battlefield again, shaking off the hands trying to stop him. He ran no matter what.

Boots pounded the ground in chaos.

Boom!

Another explosion.

Taeseok, now in uniform, tumbled across the dirt. The necklace in his hand snapped open.

Inside was a photograph of Huijae in her kimono.

Taeseok, now clearly a young man, lay on the ground and smiled brightly.

Seamlessly, the child actor transitioned into the adult.

The legs that had walked in torn military pants and boots blended into the ranks of soldiers—those same legs gradually transformed into polished black dress shoes and tailored suit trousers.

Bomb-scarred Seoul.

Taeseok looked down upon it with calm composure.

Standing on an overpass, beneath him trucks loaded with materials rattled forward in perfect coordination.

Clank, clank.

As though every movement obeyed his command.

– In Jinhae’s dance hall, lights glow every night

– Renowned figures gather, each showing off

A sultry female singer’s voice flowed over the scene.

– Hello. I’m Gi Taeseok.

Now a perfect gentleman, Taeseok introduced himself among notable figures in a luxurious hotel hall.

– In a sharp suit with a red rose corsage

– The man dressed to impress is me, yes me

Glasses clinked endlessly.

The liquid changed—champagne bubbling in clear flutes, deep red wine swirling in elegant stems, clear sake in white porcelain cups, whiskey gleaming in crystal glasses.

– What is given ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) to a successful man

– Money, dreams, honor, and envy

The one clinking glasses with him was Taejin, a man born into wealth and prestige.

– Our names are rather similar, aren’t they?

Taejin smiled warmly.

Behind him hung a large framed portrait.

Inside it—

Huijae in a pure white wedding dress.

Unlike the small, precious photograph inside Taeseok’s necklace—so difficult to preserve—this one was large, vivid, and—

– President Gi, you and I might make quite a good match.

Huijae smiled brightly.

– Ah, but love—love alone—

– My beloved drifts away like a distant dream...

Taeseok sat in the backseat of a luxury car.

Taeseok signed documents with an expensive fountain pen.

Taeseok walked across marble floors in polished shoes, followed by countless men.

When he placed a cigarette between his lips, someone lit it for him.

He wrote his legend of success.

In the Republic of Korea, no longer the old empire, there was nothing Taeseok could not have.

And yet, you—Yeon Huijae—remained beyond his reach.

In a night garden where pear blossoms scattered in the wind, Taeseok closed his eyes.

〈The Great Garland〉

November 3. Premiere.

The two-minute trailer ended.

Director Ja, watching it on his phone in Jinhae, smiled.

“I told you. Just upload it.”

There was a reason for his confidence.

His phone was already flooding with messages from writers and PDs.

The industry’s attention had converged in an instant.

It wasn’t only his phone.

[Issue Board / KBC’s 〈The Great Garland〉 Trailer Just Dropped.jpg]

[KBC Founding Special Drama, 〈The Great Garland〉 Enters Countdown... “Already Can’t Wait” Explosive Response]

[OurTown Buzz / I think I just fell in love for the first time my heart’s pounding like crazy what do I do]

In seconds, the internet erupted.

* * *

[Would you like to replay?]

Aetami didn’t hesitate. She replayed the video again.

She wanted to carve this short clip into her brain.

The constantly shifting camera angles. The set design capturing the era flawlessly. The seamless transitions.

Everything was perfect.

“And above all...”

Yeoreum’s radiant smile.

Her soaked face smiling bravely made something ache in the chest. In a single second, she captured attention with both tenderness and endearing strength.

“Aaah! This is insane!”

Why is our baby melon bread this good...?

Muttering to herself, Aetami stared at the paused frame of Yeoreum.

“You show this face and then layer explosion sounds over it?”

The era’s spirit—how war destroys what is most precious—was conveyed perfectly.

Director Ja had once again proven his name carried weight.

The moment 〈The Great Garland〉’s trailer dropped, drama fans ignited.