I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

* * *

〈The Great Garland〉 had now become a drama that was a feast for the eyes. Eun Baekhap’s styling changed constantly.

Having decided to jump into the garment business for Joseon people, Huijae began to make use of her position.

— Holy shit how many times is the styling changing TT_TT

— I knew Eun Baekhap was pretty but I didn’t realize it was to this level... she pulls off styling insanely well

— A married woman... wearing a beret, velvet coat, even gloves...? Am I allowed to love this woman...?

ㄴ I can hear you swallowing from here you lunatic

If there was a businessman with the most influence in Korea right now, it was undoubtedly Taejin. The wealthy wives of Jongno District naturally couldn’t help but take interest in Taejin’s wife.

Huijae, dressed in glamorous clothes, attended every social gathering there was.

“What a marvelous coat. It must be very difficult to import something like this...?”

“Patriotism is important, of course, but women like us should love our husbands more than the country, shouldn’t we?”

The wives were essentially asking where the smuggled item had come from. Huijae answered them with a shy smile.

“It didn’t come from across the sea.”

It was an obvious lie.

As the wives exchanged glances among themselves and a subtle tension formed, Huijae calmly began unbuttoning the coat she was wearing.

“As you can see, the lining is quite rough. But that’s what outerwear is for, isn’t it? No one ever sees the inside.”

Just as she said.

Unlike the glossy exterior that flowed like silk, the inside was made of coarse fabric. It truly wasn’t a product brought from overseas.

“Which boutique did you have it tailored at?”

“My goodness... the design isn’t inferior to those Italian ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) ones at all.”

The wives touched the coat Huijae had taken off to show them, their eyes lighting up. Huijae spoke with quiet satisfaction.

“It wasn’t tailored. As you all know, the UN is sending supplies to Korea, aren’t they? If the women are skilled enough, they can easily make coats with overseas designs using the fabric from those supplies.”

“So it isn’t a boutique product?”

“Of course not. Which means you can buy it for only one-third the price of a boutique. Instead of buying one, you could buy three.”

Huijae enthusiastically scattered bait.

“You all know this, don’t you? Clothes make the person. When you wear something beautiful, it doesn’t only lift your own mood. Your husband’s shoulders will rise with pride as well.”

For these wealthy wives, the importance of clothing that imitated smuggled imports was simple.

They could wear it freely at social gatherings.

In this era of strict crackdowns on smuggled goods, if some people could wear them and others couldn’t, resentment would inevitably grow among them.

So the clothes needed to be respectable enough to wear in official settings while still displaying wealth.

Reaffirming one’s position in front of others — especially with one’s husband present.

That was the world of the upper class.

“I’m embarrassed to say this, but you all know my husband, don’t you? The day I wore this coat, he simply couldn’t take his eyes off me.”

The wives’ expressions grew subtly complicated.

Behind them, Taejin approached playfully, raising a finger to his lips to quiet the wives.

Sensing an opportunity, Huijae spread the coat open again.

“Normally he doesn’t pay much attention to what I wear. But lately he’s been so fond of my blouses and coats. Every time he comes home, no matter how much I tell him not to, he brings me brooches and things like that.”

Huijae boasted with a proud expression, glancing at the wives in front of her.

Their faces were filled with smiles.

“So the secret to receiving newlywed-level love is that outfit?”

“Of course.”

“It seems your husband still loves you very much.”

Huijae’s cheeks flushed red.

She hesitated before answering.

“I feel rather disappointed that you didn’t say yes, my dear.”

Taejin had approached without anyone noticing and wrapped an arm around Huijae’s shoulders.

Huijae’s face, already red, now burned bright.

— Ah what do we do with this couple TT_TT they’re so cute

— From today on I love Eun Baekhap. There has never been such a cute married woman before

— I’m curling my toes so hard this is embarrassing but I love it

On the way home after diligently promoting their future business, Taejin — sitting beside Huijae in the back seat — looked out the window before speaking seriously.

“My dear. I think I must stop by somewhere for a moment. Please go ahead first.”

“Somewhere...?”

“The jewelry store. You always tell me not to do this, but I must buy you another brooch.”

Huijae glared at him with puffed cheeks.

Taejin, who had been holding back laughter, finally burst into a wide grin.

“You’re teasing me, aren’t you?”

“How could I? I’m a man who can’t take his eyes off his wife.”

Director Ja’s notorious reputation grew stronger by the day. Whenever viewers who supported Taejin–Huijae smiled brightly, he carefully adjusted the balance so that viewers rooting for Taeseok–Huijae would end up crying.

— Wait but haven’t we been crying every single episode TT_TT

— The side that laughs last wins. We will never give up

— Honestly the fans are crazier than Director Ja... true insanity

Taeseok had been right when he said promotion must come before starting the business in earnest.

Even before the business officially began, wives were lining up to put their names on the reservation list.

Of course, the wives Huijae had met were not the end of it. Taeseok was a man with excellent business sense.

“By the way... the coat Diva Hong was wearing earlier. Where did she say it came from?”

“She said it didn’t have a name. If she didn’t want to tell us she could’ve just said so... tch!”

Hong Seongju — the diva considered the greatest of this era — was also wearing a magnificent coat.

Before singing on stage, she deliberately and slowly unbuttoned the coat, drawing everyone’s gaze.

Once she threw off the thick coat to reveal a glamorous dress, the accompaniment began immediately.

Everyone wanted to wear the same clothes as Diva Hong.

“It’s the truth. Why would I lie about such a thing?”

Wearing a red dress, Diva Hong calmly inserted herself into the whispering group of women.

The women who had been complaining moments earlier fell silent.

Their hearts were pounding simply because they could speak with the diva they admired.

“I’ll only tell you this much — an extraordinary place will be opening soon. Hehe. It’s a secret I’m sharing only with you.”

Smiling, Diva Hong parted the crowd and stepped out onto the balcony.

A man was already waiting there.

“Well now. Cigarette smoke isn’t good for your throat.”

It was Taeseok, leaning against the railing and smoking.

As always, he was immaculate from head to toe. He lazily waved a hand, scattering the smoke.

“As promised. My debt is repaid with this.”

“Good. Please help a little longer.”

“A single compliment about how well something suits me is quite expensive, isn’t it, President Gi?”

“What wouldn’t suit the diva?”

Taeseok leisurely held the cigarette in his mouth and lightly lifted his chin, as if signaling her to leave.

After Diva Hong waved and exited the balcony, his relaxed expression vanished, replaced by a cold one.

He knew.

He knew why all attention had gathered on this business.

After all, Taeseok himself had said it to Huijae.

“To sell something, you must gather people who feel a lack.”

“A lack of what...?”

“Those hungry for love.”

It had been Taeseok who told Huijae to flaunt the love she received from Taejin.

Even so, his heart tightened every single day.

He had heard the rumors as well — how Taejin had visited a jewelry store the previous night and, despite Huijae insisting one item was enough, ended up buying her an armful of gifts.

Huijae’s garment business would flourish so spectacularly that even the most successful boutiques in Jongno would have to step aside.

It was a good thing.

And yet...

At that moment, a familiar silhouette appeared on the adjacent balcony, separated by a modest distance.

He recognized it instantly.

Of course he did.

Huijae stepped outside holding a crystal glass of water, trying to catch her breath.

Taeseok hurriedly crushed his cigarette in the ashtray on the railing.

— Are you crazy? The way Taeseok hurriedly puts out his cigarette when Huijae appears is delicious

ㄴ Exactly. He kept smoking when Diva Hong came out but suddenly puts it out like a madman TT_TT

— Ji Haebeom’s face shadowing is insane... my lord////

— I hate that I’m drooling over something this small but it’s too sweet to spit out

ㄴ This is poison but that lunatic Ja Sokhwan piled so much whipped cream on top that it’s too sweet to reject

“Ah...” 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Noticing Taeseok, Huijae greeted him awkwardly with a small smile.

Taeseok quickly waved away the remaining smoke before returning the greeting.

An awkward silence divided them.

Beautiful music still flowed from behind the thick glass windows.

It felt as if the world held only the two of them.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, even Diva Hong stepped forward personally.”

Huijae spoke first.

Taeseok was no longer Huijae’s Gi Taeseok.

Now he was simply President Gi.

Annoyed by the title, Taeseok replied.

“It’s a business Miss Huijae personally requested. Of course I should pay attention to it.”

But Huijae’s window had been left slightly open.

A low voice drifted in together with the music.

“You should call her Madam, President Gi.”

“....”

“Not Miss Huijae.”

It was Taejin.

His voice was warm — yet it drew a clear boundary.

Wrapping his arm around Huijae’s shoulders as if she belonged to him, Taejin smiled toward Taeseok on the neighboring balcony.

[The real love triangle arrives... 〈The Great Garland〉 sets another ratings record at 32.1%]

[Ji Haebeom – Eun Baekhap – Shin Seojin fierce popularity battle, who will win? ⎜〈The Great Garland〉]

The buzz around 〈The Great Garland〉 grew larger with each passing day.

Could this momentum be carried all the way to the end?

All eyes were watching.

* * *

“To be honest, after working in this industry for so long, I thought I was used to most lunatics. Right, Manager Hong? No one with a normal mind lasts long here.”

Manager Ma sighed helplessly, as if the inevitable had finally arrived.

“Yeah... but this guy Ja Sokhwan is the real deal...”

Because Ja Sokhwan did whatever he wanted, people had nicknamed him Director Ja.

But now his nickname was no longer just Director Ja.

“Still, it worked out well for us. Eun Baekhap’s side got screwed though! Right?”

Psychopath.

“True. Just when child Huijae’s impact started fading, he pours gasoline on the fire again.”

He truly lived up to his name.

The thing Director Ja did best was pour salt into wounds.

[〈The Great Garland〉 OST released... letter-like lyrics bring viewers to tears]

Director Ja released a music video together with the OST.

At a time when the charts were flooded with Christmas carols, this was practically a gamble.

But a gamble meant entering a low-probability fight.

In Director Ja’s judgment, this wasn’t a gamble.

The outcome was obvious.

A guaranteed winning move.

A divine stroke of genius.