I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

* * *

“Come...”

Bzzzz— bzzzz— bzzzz—

“Sweet complaints...”

Bzzzz— bzzzz— bzzzz— bzzzz—

The nonstop whirring of printers echoed through the KBC Drama Center. Complaints were flooding in.

“Director! What do we do?!”

“What do you mean what do we do? We expected this.”

Fax attacks. The complaint board exploding. Phone lines burning up.

“Yes, KBC Drama Center... Yes, sir, please calm down... Yes, if you could speak a bit slower... so we can understand... ‘Don’t you people have ancestors, you bastards, how dare a public broadcaster use a slur like that’... Yes, of course, we understand....”

“We’re very sorry. If you could just wait a little longer...”

The Center Director dabbed at the corner of his eyes as he watched employees bowing into their phones.

“That bastard Director Ja... a genius at baiting outrage....”

Director Ja was famous for it. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say every so-called cliché in Korean drama had originated in Ja Sokhwan’s head.

The legendary twist where [N O V E L I G H T] the protagonist was hit by a truck right before the final episode — sending viewers into collective hysteria — only for the next episode to reveal that the truck driver had been double-bribed to deceive the villain? That betrayal still lived in drama history.

“Director! Three advertisers are considering pulling out!”

“Let them... Tomorrow they’ll withdraw their withdrawal.”

“They’re saying it could damage our public image!”

“Let them... Tomorrow there’ll be a different kind of chaos.”

The outrage he provoked multiplied the buzz.

Headlines everywhere. Number one on Tretter’s real-time trends — and it showed no signs of falling.

@szq mimimiiii

Watching from the sky, aren’t you, masked hero oppa? Since that day I’ve never lost anything again

Retweets 31K Likes 37K

@0percentttt

Gather all those top-tier actors and you blow up a scandal in episode one? Goodbye. Too unpleasant to watch

Retweets 5,572 Likes 11K

“Director... The Broadcasting Standards Commission is calling....”

“Alright... I’ll go.”

The backlash was so intense that not long after airing, the Broadcasting Standards Commission issued a formal warning.

But the Director stood firm.

“The true value of public broadcasting... will never be overshadowed by outrage....”

* * *

Input: please for the love of god spoil it

Input: someone is dying here

Aetami couldn’t focus all day. The 〈The Great Garland〉 gallery was a disaster. Even when moderators deleted posts, new ones kept erupting.

“Damn it, when the director starts the fire himself...”

There was no one else to blame. It was all Ja Sokhwan.

“Use your own face for that bait, you bastard! Why use our girl’s face to stir up outrage so she gets the hate?! I swear I’ll kill you....”

Aetami clenched her teeth.

Clips of 〈The Great Garland〉 that had been up only a few hours already had a minimum of 80,000 views. At this rate, the top clip might surpass a million views in a single day.

The buzz crushed every competing drama in the same time slot — but Aetami couldn’t celebrate.

“Where does Ja Sokhwan even live....”

This time, Yeoreum’s narrative threads were lighter than usual. She was a child role, after all. The Yeoreum carrying four episodes wasn’t the same as Baekhap carrying twenty.

But there was one thing.

One piece of content centered entirely on Yeoreum and Myeong Jeha.

“Is that for real?”

“I’m telling you, it’s real!”

“Ahhh! I want to work at your company!”

An Intube series prepared for early promotion of 〈The Great Garland〉.

Since the 〈Strange Tales〉 reaction video, subscribers to Daily Media’s Intube channel — where Reporter Wi worked — had steadily climbed.

Now at 430,000.

Respectable influence, even among corporate channels.

[Just wait]

[Something big is coming]

JC ENM had launched new original content too — like their “First Car Live” and ASMR channel.

And now, “Last Period.”

Guests and hosts in school uniforms, watching drama clips together and chatting casually.

Like reporters doing reaction videos — but softer. It was popular.

INTUBE

[Last Period Is Club Time! Watching Drama with the Team] 31:45

Views 670K

– This reminds me of high school lol that giant shrimp snack LOLOLOLOLOL

– For real the giant juice box was mandatory T_T we used to secretly order tteokbokki

– It’s chill. They just talk nonsense but I put it on while eating lolol

– Dressing a 62-year-old in a school uniform... the audacity

And recently, Han Yeoreum and Myeong Jeha had filmed this content for 〈The Great Garland〉.

They recorded reactions while watching clips from episodes one through four.

Though the main promotions revolved around Ji Haebeom and Eun Baekhap, “Last Period” required showing broadcast clips — meaning Yeoreum and Jeha had to appear.

“Please... please...”

Online, some were already demanding 〈The Great Garland〉 be taken off air. Even creating discussion threads felt risky.

And then, finally — 10 p.m.

With her heart pounding, Aetami began watching episode two.

* * *

The moment Taeseok heard the words, his face burned.

He regretted stopping.

He pedaled hard, leaving Hanamura’s house without looking back.

The uneven road. The rattling bicycle. His hands gripping the handlebars far tighter than before.

Earlier, tension had tightened his grip.

Now it was anger.

His chest expanded sharply. His breathing grew uneven.

“What the hell...”

Normally silent, Taeseok clenched his jaw.

Stupid.

Of course a girl living in a house like that in Joseon would say something like that.

Clank.

He reached the American base and stopped.

The veins on the back of his hand stood out.

His back — bent over the bicycle — trembled slightly.

Why had he stopped?

What was so beautiful about her that he had paused?

There were only three times Taeseok had ever stood still.

The first day he saw her.

The moment their eyes met.

And now.

All because of her.

A few days later, Taeseok passed Hanamura’s house again.

He hadn’t slept properly since hearing the slur. His heart burned too hot to calm.

This time, he would not stop.

He pedaled faster.

“—!”

Just as he reached the end, a stone flew.

Clang!

He braked hard.

He turned irritably toward where it came from.

She was there again.

“...What.”

The stone was smooth and pale — like her.

Maybe that house was full of things like that.

Maybe that was why she said what she did.

Taeseok tried to ignore her.

Then he heard it again.

“Joseon bastard!”

Last time, he had let it go.

Not this time.

Even if he lost the job. Even if he got beaten.

He wanted to say something.

He parked his bicycle and strode toward the wall.

But something was strange.

The closer he got, the more she was smiling.

“What are you—”

Before he could finish, she interrupted.

“I’m Joseon too.”

Taeseok blinked.

“Joseon?”

She nodded brightly.

Standing on tiptoe, she dropped out of sight below the wall, then popped back up.

“Me. Joseon.”

An introduction.

The strength left Taeseok’s body instantly.

“So why did you say it like that....”

She pointed to herself, confused, thinking he hadn’t understood.

Carefully, clearly, she repeated.

“Me. Jo. Seon.”

There was no malice.

“...Who called you that?”

His eyes shifted.

She looked like a girl surrounded only by precious things.

Her hands resting on the wall seemed never to have lifted anything heavier than a teacup.

– I think I saw this at the script reading T_T

– Who raised our Huijae calling herself that? Show yourselves, I’ve got a bat

– ...I’m going insane

– Wait, Hanamura is Korean too, so he just called his own daughter that? What a lunatic

Who taught her that word?

Why did she live in a world where being Joseon meant being called that?

Did she not have a single proper Joseon adult around her?

Did she not know the word Joseon person?

Had she grown up in a world where that slur was the only label she’d ever heard?

Actors speak with their eyes.

Myeong Jeha’s Gi Taeseok said all of it without words.

His gaze was complex.

The girl kept speaking in Japanese, wanting conversation.

Taeseok sighed.

Then he said carefully:

“Repeat after me. Joseon person.”

She blinked.

“Joseon. Person.”

She understood repetition meant correction.

Cautiously, she followed him.

“Jo-seon... person.”

Taeseok drew in a deep breath.