I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

Someone called out her name from somewhere, and someone else pulled out their phone and pressed the camera shutter.

“Please greet the right side first—!”

“Hand hearts! Please give us a hand heart!”

The torrent of shutter clicks made it easy to guess just how popular she was. Even customers passing by stopped at the noise.

Under the dazzling golden stars, Han Yeoreum stood shining together with Brand D’s logo.

[Photo⎜Nation’s First Love Han Yeoreum, adorable hand heart]

[Actress Han Yeoreum shows off first-love visuals with a hand greeting]

* * *

‘So this is... what being an ambassador feels like...?’

After entering the store, I naturally positioned myself in front of the camera lenses and pretended to admire one of the new items from this season.

“This looks great right now. Let’s try turning your head slightly.”

It didn’t take long. The invited celebrities were just meant to circle the store once while trying on or holding the new products.

‘I want to stay longer....’

Ever since 〈The Great Garland〉 aired, I’d been standing in front of cameras almost every day.

Interviews, photo shoots, commercial filming. And although I’m not sure if it counts as a camera, I even film vlog footage on my phone every time we rehearse for 〈Youth Disqualified!〉.

‘But I’ve never gotten this much attention....’

Once you’ve tasted it, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) it’s impossible to resist. Ever since the fan signing event, I’d been craving this kind of overwhelming attention.

“Let’s try putting on this muffler.”

“Okay.”

I wrapped a pale yellow muffler around my neck while looking in the mirror. Because the shooting was done in quick cuts, I’d already finished a full circuit of the store.

‘I want to ask if I can go around one more time.’

I wanted to savor the feeling of being an ambassador a bit longer, but the Brand D and Ruel staff members, oblivious to my inner thoughts, beamed brightly.

“Wow! These came out great.”

“Right? We can wrap it up here.”

Please don’t wrap it up.

“Yes... then I’ll get going now. It was really nice meeting you today.”

“Actress, this is a gift prepared by Brand D for you. Please hold it so the logo is visible when you leave.”

“One moment. There’s no star on the handle. When you upload to social media, please make sure this star is shown nicely too.”

To film one more time on my way out, they handed me a shopping bag decorated with gold foil for the Christmas season.

The moment I stepped out of the pop-up store again, flashes and shutters exploded around me. The crowd had grown even larger than before.

“Han Yeoreum!”

At the sound of someone calling my name from somewhere, I turned my head and waved quickly.

Could it be one of my fans who came to the fan signing event? I scanned the crowd quickly.

‘No one....’

A small corner of my heart felt a little lonely, but if they weren’t here at this hour, it probably meant they were focusing on work or school. That was a good thing.

‘It’s a shame, but it can’t be helped.’

I made a hand heart toward Reporter Wi’s camera lens—a familiar face even if he wasn’t one of my fans.

For the summer days who would see today’s Han Yeoreum through his article.

But I couldn’t see his finger pressing the shutter.

As expected of a professional.

‘He never misses the best shot.’

I wanted to greet everyone a little longer, but it was really time to leave now. Manager Choi crossed both arms in an X.

I bowed slightly and greeted right, front, and left before stepping away from the photo wall.

Then I walked a few steps forward along the path I had entered through.

That was when—

‘...Over there....’

Someone was approaching from afar with guards accompanying them.

Just walking past was enough to steal every gaze around.

Before I even realized who it was, voices burst out everywhere.

“It’s Eun Baekhap! Eun Baekhap!”

It was the first time I’d seen her since the script reading.

For a brief moment, my eyes met Eun Baekhap’s bright, flowerlike face.

Looking at me, she slowly lifted the corner of her lips into a relaxed smile.

Then an avalanche of attention poured down upon Eun Baekhap as she stood on the photo wall.

Click—! Click—! Clickclickclickclick—!

The shutter sounds rang out as if declaring what a true top star was.

It wasn’t even comparable to when I had stood there just moments earlier.

Just raising her hand to greet people was enough to keep everyone from looking away.

That was the kind of natural aura Eun Baekhap possessed.

* * *

“Wow... look at Eun Baekhap....”

The senior reporter standing beside Reporter Wi whispered quietly.

Reporter Wi understood the meaning well enough.

“She changed the time on purpose, right?”

“Obviously. Of course she did.”

Originally, Eun Baekhap’s appearance had been scheduled last.

But who was Eun Baekhap?

Among all the celebrities invited today, she was easily one of the top three.

And she was Brand D’s chosen ambassador.

Changing a schedule like this was something she had more than enough influence to do.

“She probably said she had to move it forward because of drama filming....”

“And the fact that it ended up right after Han Yeoreum.”

Comparisons could be made even if people weren’t standing side by side.

Just being in the same place was enough. And the short gap between their appearances made the reporters certain.

“She’s making a statement.”

“Showing she hasn’t reached that level yet?”

“Exactly. It’s not an important event like an awards ceremony, but... depending on how you see it, it still sends a message.”

Even after Eun Baekhap left, many celebrities visited—models, actors, idols.

But the early intensity never returned.

Because the two actresses currently gaining the most momentum—Han Yeoreum and Eun Baekhap—had already appeared back to back.

What Han Yeoreum didn’t know was that the volume of shutter clicks she received had actually been twice as loud as anyone else’s.

“Once she loses Best Couple too, it’ll probably hit her confidence a bit....”

Reporter Wi sighed.

Eun Baekhap had already been nominated for Best Actress.

After the balcony scene in 〈The Great Garland〉, the KBC Best Actress award was practically considered hers already.

Best Couple seemed just as obvious.

“You don’t know?”

The senior reporter widened his eyes.

“Know what?”

“There’s no way it’ll be taken from her. Do you even know who the opponent is?”

“JC...?”

“Exactly. That JC.”

He pointed somewhere with his finger.

Small stalls selling cute Christmas goods were visible.

“They’re putting a pop-up there.”

“What? What kind of pop-up?”

“What do you think?”

The senior reporter grinned.

“〈The Great Garland〉 merchandise.”

* * *

Time rewound to when Episode 3 of 〈The Great Garland〉 aired.

Episode 1 had exploded with controversy over the “Joseon scum” issue.

Episode 2 turned even the angry viewers who came to complain into Huijae supporters.

And when Episode 3 finally pulled everyone in completely—

JC ENM didn’t miss the moment.

They sent a single email to KBC.

Hello.

This is Ma Suyeon from the marketing team at JC ENM.

= Hello, you broke bastards. Remember me?

Since the drama has successfully established itself early on with strong viewer reactions and high buzz, we would like to propose merchandise planning and joint distribution as part of an IP expansion strategy to maintain this momentum.

= We know you’re broke after ruining two dramas in a row.

Merchandise lineup: postcard sets featuring main characters, location postcards, famous-quote paperweights, newspaper replica + mini poster set, film stills, military ID necklace seen in the drama

= Let’s make money.

“Hohohoho... This is why experience matters, you know... right, Director Hong?”

“Exactly. These aren’t complicated items like dolls or lightsticks, so we can move fast.”

JC ENM had already profited twice from drama merchandise.

〈ParCheHi〉 and 〈Strange Tales〉 had both been extremely successful projects.

So there was no way they would miss 〈The Great Garland〉.

[The Great Garland Gallery]

[The merchandise pop-up schedule and lineup are out]

Prices are cheaper than expected. I absolutely have to buy Taeseok’s military ID necklace and the film stills. If I don’t I’ll die

Anonymous (17.117) Holy shit they’re selling this while it’s still airing?? These bastards are insane geniuses

Anonymous (1.234) If this is how they treat my mental illness I’ll open my wallet lol

Anonymous (85.152) Wait what the hell is this?? Random bonus if you spend over 100,000 won

JC ENM had never lost a popularity vote.

“Our little cutie still doesn’t have the standing to challenge Eun Baekhap... sadly....”

“Hey. She’s only in her third year since debut. How could she compete with a top star? Their fans are vicious.”

“Still, it’s lucky we’ve got experience, right?”

“Right. If we can’t win by votes, we’ll just make the vote itself meaningless.”

They were a company that had once squeezed 100 won out of the entire nation through text message voting systems.

Random four-cut photo given for purchases over 100,000 won

1. Young Taeseok + young Huijae

2. Young Taejin + young Huijae

3. Adult Taeseok + adult Huijae

4. Adult Taejin + adult Huijae

If equal quantities of the photos were distributed, the outcome was obvious.

Viewers would naturally cling to the couple with future story developments rather than the one with none.

“Good! Next week we’ve got another big moment coming. Before that the internet will be flooded with posts saying ‘Please trade Eun Baekhap photos for Han Yeoreum photos’!”

“If KBC awards Best Couple purely by vote they’d look like idiots! They’ll add internal judging too!”

Director Ma and Director Hong laughed wickedly.

When it came to manipulating public opinion, no one could defeat JC ENM.

* * *

Aetami’s hands trembled.

“These... these crazy bastards....”

Even for the most popular dramas, merchandise had never been sold halfway through airing.

Usually a few items were released only after the show ended successfully.

“When the hell did they prepare all this?”

But the opponent was JC ENM.

A company with a history of producing every kind of merchandise imaginable.

“We wanted the script book and the Blu-ray...! This is so unfair....”

Those would come later. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

For now, the merchandise came first.

“If they release this now, there’s no way people won’t buy it!”

The fans of 〈The Great Garland〉 erupted in frenzy.