I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

“Hey... mister.”

Taeseok hesitated before calling out to the man who had introduced him to the job delivering mash residue for brewing.

He had never taken a day off. Not when he was sick. Not when he was humiliated.

And yet now—just to go look at flowers—was it really okay to waste an entire day?

His voice grew smaller.

“What’s that?”

“Tomorrow... could you maybe cover one day for me...?”

The boy’s tone was careful, almost timid. His hands, clasped behind his back, kept clenching and unclenching.

The man watching him burst into loud laughter.

“Hey! What’s a grown man getting shy over something like that for? I’ll do it. It’s not hard.” 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

“Thank you.”

“That bastard asks me to cover for him every single day while slacking off! Hey! Learn from Taeseok here!”

“Why you dragging me into this again?”

The man teased easily and nudged Taeseok’s shoulder.

“It’s tough, isn’t it.”

“...No, it’s not.”

“You’ve gotta rest sometimes. You did good thinking it through.”

Taeseok bowed deeply. Then he pedaled quickly back to his crumbling house.

“Not this... not this either....”

He pulled out every piece of clothing he owned.

He was looking for the best one.

He examined each carefully, even sniffing them. Then he sighed.

There wasn’t a single decent one.

After a moment’s thought, he reached deep into the cabinet and took out a pure white cotton cloth he had kept hidden.

It was the nicest thing in the house.

He grabbed a bar of soap and washed it thoroughly. Under the darkening night sky, the sloshing sound echoed with every movement of his hands.

“...That’s done.”

After wringing it dry, he smiled faintly at the clean, soap-scented cloth.

He spread it wide on the warm floor so it would dry well.

—holy shit this is basically their first date, Taeseok!!!

—Myeong Jeha please keep the short hair forever his forehead is insane TT_TT

ㄴthat face screams power facts

—the child actors are over tomorrow?? no way I can’t let them go

At that same hour, Huijae was choosing her clothes.

She had always worn whatever her nanny picked out. Now she spread her delicate garments across the floor, lifting each one thoughtfully. Holding them up in front of the mirror, she murmured,

“...Isn’t it strange...? Does it suit me?”

There was no hiding her excitement.

She chose a pink sweater and a navy skirt, then lay back on the bed, staring up at the sky again.

It felt like the sparkling stars had entered her heart.

They burst inside her chest like fireworks, and she couldn’t fall asleep.

Before the sun had even risen, Taeseok woke up and retrieved the dried white cotton cloth.

He wrapped it carefully around the back seat of his bicycle, stuffing his own clothes inside to make it softer.

In his own way, he had prepared a seat just for Huijae.

He washed his face more carefully than usual, chose the least worn shirt he owned, and kicked up the bicycle stand.

Today, the sound felt lighter.

Huijae saw Hanamura off as usual, then hurried back to her room. She slipped into the pink sweater and navy skirt, put on white socks, and dabbed lip tint from the vanity.

“...Is it too dark?”

She wiped it off and reapplied it again and again. Her cheeks, reflected in the mirror, were flushed.

Taeseok had arrived early. He paced near the wall, unable to stand still.

And then—

The girl peeked over.

“Gi Taeseok!”

He had been circling the same spot repeatedly. He spun around at once. Her bright gaze landed on him.

“Step on this and climb up.”

He handed her the wooden crate he had prepared in advance. Huijae placed the large box beneath her feet and rose above the wall.

It was different from the way only a sliver of her face used to appear.

But a box was only a box. It wasn’t a ladder. She couldn’t easily get down.

That was when the boy reached out his hand.

“Just grab me.”

“But...”

“I’ll catch you.”

His wide arms waited for her.

After a brief hesitation, Huijae shut her eyes tight and leaned forward. She clutched his shoulders.

Taeseok, now much taller, caught her arms.

The apple crate wobbled beneath her toes.

From the top of the high wall, the girl seemed to flutter down like a butterfly.

Her navy skirt swayed.

Taeseok froze with her in his arms.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Their heartbeats overlapped.

For a moment, he tightened his hold.

Had something this good ever happened in his life?

How could a person be this soft, this fragrant?

His throat bobbed.

Her fingers, gripping his shoulders, twitched.

“Um....”

“Ah. I’ll put you down.”

He lowered her gently to the ground. Then he crouched and checked her over.

“Did you hurt your arms or legs?”

“Hurt?”

“I mean, are you injured? Does anything hurt?”

“I am very brave!”

She answered with a smile, face red.

He jerked his chin toward the bicycle.

Huijae carefully climbed onto the back seat. Taeseok gripped the handlebars tightly—because of the hand holding onto the back of his shirt.

“...I’m going.”

Clank—!

He kicked up the stand and pedaled.

Something was strange.

Everything was strange.

His fingertips, his waist, even the tips of his ears—his heart pounded wildly.

He could barely even feel the weight of the girl sitting behind him.

Thunk.

The bicycle jolted over the uneven dirt path.

Startled, Huijae instinctively pressed her face into his back.

“Ahhh!”

“That’s it, that’s it!”

“Oh my god, that’s so cute!”

The staff watching 〈The Great Garland〉 with Director Ja shrieked. Even though they had filmed the scene themselves, it was unbearably sweet.

The viewers would be no different.

If anything, they’d be worse.

—please just kiss already

︎˪you psycho LOOOOLLL

—I’m so overwhelmed I’m staring at the ceiling right now... there will never be a scene like this again in kdrama history fuck TT_TT

—why is the guy so tall and the girl so small? why are his hands so rough and hers so soft? why is he so stoic and she such a baby??????

︎˪what is this comment crazy this show is ruining people

The screen shifted to Hanamura’s house.

A place that had always felt stiff and tense now seemed softer.

“Want more rice?”

“That’s too much. I’ll get indigestion!”

After that day, Huijae often came out to the kitchen under the excuse that the kettle was empty, proudly showing off a few Joseon words she had learned. When she once said, “You must be working very hard,” everyone burst ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ out laughing.

“I’ll go back in now—.”

Carrying the tray into Huijae’s room, the woman froze.

The room was empty.

“Miss? Miss? Huijae?”

She called several times. No answer.

Then she saw it.

A note.

I’ll be back safely.

It wasn’t neat Japanese handwriting.

It was crooked, awkward Joseon script.

“Oh my....”

Holding the note, the woman smiled softly.

“Our Huijae went out for a little trip.”

The lavish room built on the blood of Joseon people no longer felt cold and lonely.

In a room filled with expensive treasures, what Huijae had truly wanted was this.

From the drawer, the worn edge of a tattered Joseon language textbook peeked out.

—please stop you crazy bastards stop making us cry

—why am I crying over this TT__TT

—our baby Huijae is so precious I’m sorry for misunderstanding you in episode 1 I love you please stay healthy and happy

Halfway up the mountain, the sky turned ominous.

It wasn’t just early morning haze.

Thick clouds gathered.

Rumble.

A warning.

And then, as expected, rain poured down without mercy.

“Put this on.”

Without hesitation, Taeseok stripped off his shirt and handed it to her. In those few seconds, Huijae’s hair was already soaked.

He wrapped her close and ran, searching for shelter.

But they kept failing.

There was nowhere easy to hide in the mountains.

Huijae grew wetter by the second.

“Get in here.”

Under a sharp cliff edge, they found a small space to shield themselves from the rain.

He looked at her.

Her face was pale, drenched.

She forced a smile.

It tore at his heart.

“...When it eases up a bit, we’ll just head back down.”

“....”

“Don’t know what I was thinking bringing you all the way up here. Even if we reach the top, it’s nothing special.”

He didn’t look at her.

All he saw were dull trees and muddy paths.

This shabby place was the only thing someone like him could bring her to.

“I’ll take you home. Just bear with the cold.”

“Home?”

She didn’t understand everything—but she understood that word.

She grabbed his waist the way she had grabbed his shirt on the bicycle.

“I want to see.”

He was just as soaked.

Through the wet fabric, he felt her warmth.

“Still... I want to go see it.”

Director Ja stared at Yeon Huijae’s face in close-up.

That line—

had been Han Yeoreum’s ad-lib.