I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

“Hey, Han Yeoreum! Don’t people usually tell someone before making plans? Huh? Weren’t you supposed to meet only me today?”

“I’m leaving.”

Both of them said what they wanted to say to me. I looked at Joo Junseo, who was about to walk out.

“I’m sorry. I thought it would be fun if all three of us watched Episode 4 together.... If you leave, the two of us will have to watch it a bit... lonely, right?”

“Hey! What’s lonely when you’re with me!”

“Ugh, Gaeul. When you shout using head voice like that, it echoes too much. But are you really leaving?”

“You should’ve said that earlier. I’ll just watch Episode 4 and go.”

Joo Junseo meekly followed inside. It was a good thing I remembered how he yelled at his manager during the script reading. If I act a bit pitiful, he agrees to everything.

Joo Junseo. Best colleague. Five full stars.

Myeong Jeha is a total liar.

‘He’s so gentle—what do you mean his temper is terrible?’

Of course, there was a reason I gathered them like this. Han Yeoreum’s inner opportunist calculator had produced an excellent answer at high speed.

‘I want to create the Han Yeoreum Family.’

It was that era when each other’s rising fame boosted overall awareness. It was good for rookie actors to mention each other here and there.

‘And the two of them have agencies....’

Good for hearing industry trends. In this field, a single mention could determine a casting. If I want to rise fast and surpass Do Gyeoul, I have to use everything I can.

We talked briefly about recent updates before the new episode dropped.

“Did both of you get schedules after the web drama wrapped?”

“Well, I’m supposed to audition for two roles, and I have a photo call event. And acting lessons too.”

“Pictorial shoot and an interview. And I’m doing lessons too.”

Just as expected.

‘I’m dying of envy. You really do need an agency.’

Noticing my mood, Choo Gaeul cleared her throat.

“Well, do you want to audition for our agency? Some of the other managers said good things about you too. We’re pretty big, and pret—”

“No. Don’t go.”

With Joo Junseo’s quick shutdown, Gaeul’s eyes sharpened.

“Excuse me. Our agency is a good place, you know?”

“You can get into a bigger one.”

“A bigger one than ours? What, Bon Entertainment? That place is kinda old-fashioned. Pretty far from anything trendy. Hey. Han Yeoreum. Come audition for LM.”

“Don’t go.”

“I’ll call right now! They’ll probably tell you to come immediately! The managers would compliment you and compl—!”

“Don’t go.”

Joo Junseo’s conversational method had incredible cost-effectiveness. While Choo Gaeul spoke ten sentences, he manipulated the whole situation with three syllables. I asked him:

“Why do you keep telling me not to go?”

His answer was unexpected.

“There’s a lot of talk lately. JC ENM’s agency might try to take you.”

“What!!!”

The usually long-winded Choo Gaeul suddenly shouted short and sharp.

‘I’m hearing this for the first time too. JC ENM...?’

Right now, JC didn’t even have a separate agency. At most an MCN. MCNs were mostly for influencers, meaning Intubers.

‘Later on, when Intubers entered broadcasting, the line between MCN and talent agencies blurred.’

But right now, absolutely not. Reading the meaning in my eyes, Joo Junseo added more explanation.

“They’re trying to create a real agency, not an MCN. An entirely different label. Or so I heard. It’s not confirmed yet.”

Which meant—

“So Han Yeoreum becomes the first actor to sign an exclusive contract with JC ENM?”

Choo Gaeul’s mouth dropped wide open. Then she summed it up quickly:

“Okay. Don’t come to our agency. Good thing I didn’t call.”

“Right.”

“You need to go swim in a bigger pond. If it’s JC, you grab it.”

“Right.”

Suddenly, Gaeul and Junseo reached a conclusion. Perfectly coordinated. Like a duo who rehearse beforehand.

‘The first actor signed with JC ENM.’

Just imagining it made my heart race. Meanwhile, Episode 4 of had been uploaded.

* * *

Aetami refreshed once again and immediately clicked.

“It’s up!!!”

Intube

@JC ENM Subscribers 600,000

[The Cherry on the Parfait Belongs to the Heroine! Ep 4. Replacement] 16:10

With something decided, Chaewon chose one method to secure her screen time. And that was—

-...Go away.

-Hey, um. Isn’t it sometimes kind of lonely being alone?

The cost-effective heroine strategy. Focusing on just one guy.

The essence of a pure romance manga was ultimately the romance front between the male lead and the female lead. Since she could no longer create black-history moments in front of the entire school, Chaewon began delivering the kind of lines that only a pure-romance heroine would dare speak.

-It’s better to choose this guy than get humiliated in the auditorium.

With that narration, she used one assigned heroine line toward Jun every single day.

-Even if no one else sees it, I can.

-....

-Don’t try to hide it. Sometimes, you find a reason to live even between two people who aren’t anything...!

Saying that, Chaewon simply walked off. Step, step.

There was no context. Whenever she looked at Jun, she reflexively spit out a line and shut off her emotions. Jun, left alone, stared into the air with the same dead-fish eyes as Chaewon.

-Whatever. It’s a pure romance manga anyway. In the end, he’ll end up with Hina. He won’t remember a thing I said.

Turning the hallway corner, Chaewon pressed her forehead against the wall and tried to justify herself. They were lines that were too hard for the Korean national emotional code to utter soberly.

-Heroines are really incredible.... Saying lines like this, completely sober.

Chaewon opened her hand and looked at it. It wasn’t blurry anymore. As if telling her that her choice had been right. She was about to become Jun’s heroine as usual—

To the equipment storage room.

-Jun

A note lay on Chaewon’s desk.

“Oh, this is THAT!!! The storage-room cliché!!!”

Aetami stomped her feet into the mattress. At some point she had covered her mouth with her fist. All because her hands and feet kept tensing up.

Everyone knew how the upcoming scene would go. But predictable scenes were the most delicious. Aetami was already excited to see Jun run to the storage room to save Chaewon.

Creak—.

Then the moment Chaewon opened the storage-room door and stepped inside.

Barely one step in, clang, the door shut behind her. Darkness fell instantly.

-Ah.... It’s that.

Despite being the person trapped, Chaewon’s reaction was far drier than Aetami’s. As if it were nothing, she sat on a mat and took out her phone.

-Pi Chaewon! If you can hear me, answer!

That was when she heard a familiar voice calling her from outside.

-...He actually knows my name?

But Chaewon didn’t respond even when she heard Jun.

-Pi Chaewon!

-Tsk.... He’ll probably break the lock on the storage room or something. That would be a bit much.

Chaewon had no desire to ask Jun for help.

-I only wanted screen time, but if this keeps up I’ll become the real heroine.

So Chaewon made the sensible choice again.

-Hello. Is this 119? I’m trapped inside a school building right now, oh. The teachers’ office phone. That method.

She hung up briefly to call the teachers’ office.

-Ah, damn.... I’m going crazy.

A voice far too rough and visibly irritated to be a pure romance male lead echoed through the door.

-How long do we have to keep doing this?

At the same time—pop—there was the sound of a soap bubble bursting. As if she realized something, Chaewon’s eyes sharpened and she immediately stepped on a vaulting box to stick her head through the high window.

-Hey.

It was a completely different voice from the heroine-mode voice she had used in front of Jun not long ago.

-Don’t tell me....

-...You too?

Beeeep—

A ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) tinnitus-like sound rang out.

[The Cherry on the Parfait Belongs to the Heroine!]

“Ah!!! How can they cut it off HERE!!!”

Aetami rolled back and forth across her bed.