I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

INTUBE

[Real-Life Airport Moments from the 〈The Great Garland〉 Reward Vacation] 01:45

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Eun Baekhap

The aura that says “I’m a leading actress” just from the way she walks

Self-introduction beauty

Hair fluttering like every strand is a piece of art

Auto-filter beauty

The kind of beauty that makes you fall in love with just a single wave

First-love beauty

The videos filmed at the airport were quickly uploaded to Korean Intube. Real-life reaction clips starting from Ji Haebeom all the way to Han Yeoreum were basically a cheat key for views. In no time the video had already surpassed fifty thousand.

Han Yeoreum

The kind of smile so bright every time you see her that you feel like you should hand her pocket money

Allowance-collection beauty

The kind of beauty that feels like she must have been the classmate sitting next to you back in school and made your heart flutter

Memory-manipulation beauty

The kind of beauty that makes you feel good every time you look at her

Fresh Melon Bread beauty

The 〈The Great Garland〉 team’s reward vacation was receiving good reactions not only in entertainment news but also in online communities. The excitement surrounding the national drama that recorded 44.7% ratings had still not cooled.

-LOL this mister using the word Melon Bread beauty is the first time I’ve seen that

︎˪ LOL this is hilarious Han Yeoreum

-Myeong Jeha part why did they put slow motion there wtf LMAO

-He’s usually cold as hell but the 〈Great Garland〉 team is melting everyone with visuals so it’s just praise everywhere lol

︎˪ Holy shit LOL yeah that’s why it feels trustworthy

-Seeing them like this makes me so happy T_T.. please give us one group photo later... I’m not ready to let them go yet

Eun Baekhap, alone in her room, was aware of these reactions as well. Scrolling through the comments with a blank expression, her brows gradually furrowed.

-Han Yeoreum actress looks even more promising for the future hehe. If she ever plays a character like Yeon Huijae she’d absolutely fly haha. For a child actor that performance... not easy haha

-I personally wonder what it would’ve been like if the child Huijae had played the adult role too... The way she handled brave, tragic, and solitary emotions all at once was impressive~^^

Eun Baekhap already knew about the public curiosity asking what it would have been like if Han Yeoreum had played adult Huijae as well.

She thought it was understandable. She tried to accept it.

But what bothered her was—

“...Why not for me?”

There was no one wondering what Eun Baekhap’s version of the child Huijae might have been like. As if Han Yeoreum alone had been enough.

That irritated her.

Her mood was unsettled—no, her pride had been wounded.

No matter how much she tried to convince herself that it was simply because of the impact of the first appearance, or because people were lingering on something that had never been fulfilled—

“....”

In the end, Eun Baekhap knew the truth.

She inhaled deeply.

Then she checked the time displayed in the corner of her phone screen.

“It’s fine. I’m fine.”

It was time to meet Ahn Junmyeong.

Today, Eun Baekhap had decided she would secure the lead role in Writer Ahn’s next project no matter what.

So that no one could question the performance she had achieved.

So that the work would become complete through Eun Baekhap’s presence alone.

And so that she could be reborn as an actor whom everyone acknowledged.

* * *

Ahn Junmyeong looked at Eun Baekhap as she entered the hotel room.

A slightly tense expression, cautious footsteps, a shy smile.

Taking everything together—

‘She’s acting.’

Eun Baekhap was acting.

Her determination to somehow strike a deal with Ahn Junmyeong today was practically shining through.

The concept seemed to be that even a top star like herself had returned to the mindset of a rookie in front of the newly risen star writer Ahn Junmyeong.

Top stars didn’t know.

They didn’t know how the lowest-ranking people beneath them had to read the room constantly, get kicked around, and endure everything.

From the days he had been a junior writer, bowing when told to bow and pretending to die when told to die, Ahn Junmyeong had practically reached the level of a prophet when it came to reading people.

“Writer, have you been resting well? I thought this wine would be nice to share....”

Eun Baekhap politely set down the wine she had brought. Ahn Junmyeong smiled with the practiced smile of a professional and picked up a glass.

‘But no matter what you do, you’re still a top star.’

That lofty pride couldn’t be discarded.

Ahn Junmyeong had no intention of even verbally promising Eun Baekhap the lead role in his next work today.

Eun Baekhap was certainly a good actor.

She had high recognition, no unnecessary scandals followed her, she attracted advertisements and PPL easily, and above all—

She was talented.

“I wanted to talk more at the company dinner, but I was really in terrible condition that day....”

But that alone wasn’t enough.

Eun Baekhap opened the wine lightly and whispered as if confessing something shyly. Her voice, airy and fluttering as always, drifted softly into his ears.

“Actually, my company tried really hard to stop me from coming on this reward vacation. But I was greedy because I wanted to spend time with you, Writer....”

Soft yet precise pronunciation.

Ahn Junmyeong admired it internally. What would it be like if she delivered that line in that voice? A simulation immediately ran through his mind.

But it wasn’t time yet.

“You must’ve received a lot of offers for your next project, Baekhap. Seen any good scripts?”

Ahn Junmyeong jumped straight into the topic.

Eun Baekhap widened her eyes gently, as if surprised the subject had come up so quickly.

‘Her face alone could carry an entire narrative....’

For a moment, even Ahn Junmyeong, another woman, nearly fell for it.

She quickly regained her composure.

Eun Baekhap covered her mouth lightly with one hand and laughed.

“That’s right. I was actually shocked by how many offers came in. I want to read them all slowly one by one, but my manager keeps rushing me.... Saying I should row hard while the tide is in.”

Exchanging carefully packaged conversation like gifts, the two naturally moved toward the real subject.

“But you know this about me, right? I don’t take just any project.”

“Of course. I know your filmography well.”

“I want to seriously read everything from beginning to end before choosing. But people above me keep telling me to take this or that. They’re still trying to choose for me. I don’t have time, but I still want everything....”

Eun Baekhap’s eyes sparkled.

“But if it’s Writer Ahn, I’d join even just from reading the synopsis.”

As if every line she had spoken earlier existed only to deliver that sentence.

“Because I trust you.”

Her slender hand gently rested on the back of Ahn Junmyeong’s hand.

“Really? You don’t even know what I might ask you to do.”

“Whatever it is, I’ll do it. It’s you, Writer Ahn.”

Eyes filled with trust looked straight at Ahn Junmyeong.

And watching her, Ahn Junmyeong thought:

‘Total bullshit.’

Since the days of being a junior writer, she had seen actors like this countless times.

This was an industry where the value of a top actor could rival the price of a building.

Actors knew better than anyone how much money could be lost from choosing the wrong project.

They would swear they would join the project, gather investors around it, and then suddenly jump to another production.

Sometimes they would use the publicity of being “considered for a role” to raise their price and leave.

Some actors stayed silent before joining a project, only to demand script revisions after joining—forcing writers to tear apart their scripts in tears.

Ahn Junmyeong had not forgotten.

If Ji Haebeom hadn’t intervened during 〈The Great Garland〉, Gi Juye would have taken the role.

‘If it had been Gi Juye, she never could’ve played that Huijae.’

On Eun Baekhap’s side, they had pushed Gi Juye.

That way all the spotlight would stay on Eun Baekhap.

Part of Ahn Junmyeong understood it.

But that was exactly why a line had to be drawn.

She didn’t want actors who calculated first.

In fact, actors like that couldn’t even be cast in her work.

So Ahn Junmyeong decided to push hard.

This was a game where Eun Baekhap had to be the one who felt the loss.

“What if you were just an extra?”

“...What?”

“What if you were simply a mother with a child?”

Eun Baekhap’s expression froze instantly.

As if she had never imagined hearing such words.

An extra.

And a mother.

Those were not roles offered to the hottest actress currently dominating the industry.

Maybe to someone who had once been famous—but not now.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

“...Writer. You’re joking... right?”

“Just a moment ago you said you’d do anything I asked.”

Eun Baekhap kept smiling politely.

But her mind seemed to have gone blank.

Ahn Junmyeong smiled and gently withdrew her hand from beneath Eun Baekhap’s.

‘Just as I thought.’

The pride of a top star who refused to act unless she was the lead remained intact.

An actor who couldn’t tolerate another role receiving the spotlight could never enter Ahn Junmyeong’s next project.

That had been the rule from the start.

“Baekhap, your face looks pale. Maybe you really aren’t feeling well.”

“....”

“You should go rest. It’s a vacation after all. Wouldn’t want you exhausting yourself.”

Ahn Junmyeong sent Eun Baekhap away.

Left alone in the room, she sipped the wine Eun Baekhap had brought.

“Ah—. I wonder what project Baekhap will choose next.”

Three female leads.

A provocative theme guaranteed to draw attention.

No male lead.

No romance.

That alone explained how difficult producing Ahn Junmyeong’s next work would be.

“If the lead who’s supposed to be the pillar starts getting greedy alone, the project becomes way too hard....”

Ahn Junmyeong’s character Huiseon clearly had something that fit Eun Baekhap.

But she didn’t want Eun Baekhap exactly as she was now. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Ahn Junmyeong laughed loudly in the empty room.

Actors had that problem.

Acting wasn’t something only actors could do.

After all, lies and acting were separated by only the thinnest line.

“Still, let’s meet again later! Baekhap!”

Would Eun Baekhap collapse here and give up?

Or would she claw through the tiniest possibility and return as the actor Ahn Junmyeong wanted?

Ahn Junmyeong had thrown out a bluff.

Extra.

Mother.

Only one of them was true.

On her laptop screen, the synopsis of her next project was displayed.

On the exact day marking one year since her seven-year-old daughter was murdered, Huiseon spends the entire day at the columbarium.

When she returns home, a church deaconess is waiting in front of her house.

“God needed another angel, so He took her. She must be in heaven now, so don’t suffer too much....”

Is that really a reason?

Huiseon repeats the words in her mind.

If a life was needed, it should not have been a seven-year-old child.

A door lock with a dead battery.

A phone screen that won’t respond due to an error.

A false apartment fire alarm.

All of it becomes a revelation from God.

Yes.

It was a mistake.

In this world there were so many things that deserved to die, yet somehow her daughter had been taken instead.

From that day forward, Huiseon decides to carry out God’s revelation herself.

She will send those who deserve to die back to heaven.

Only then will there be ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) no more victims.

She cannot allow more souls to be taken by mistake like her daughter.

If something has become tangled and twisted, then she will simply untangle it with her own hands.

She decides to become the judge.

In the name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

* * *

I stood on the terrace, facing the night sky as the sea breeze blew in.

Even though it was winter, the weather here was perfect.

After having a few cocktails with the staff, my cheeks had turned red.

“I wish this reward vacation could last longer.... I don’t want to say goodbye to the unnie staff....”

Laughter burst out around me at my words.

Who was I?

Han Yeoreum—the person who, even though she hadn’t spent that long with the staff on set, somehow made everyone want to add a heart next to her name in their phones as “Yeoreumi♥”.

“Right—. I want to work with Yeoreum again next time too!”

Just like always, when people gathered, the conversation turned to work.

It wasn’t often that I got to hear detailed stories about what happened on set, so I nodded eagerly.

Stories about how they panicked in the Jeju hotel because too many people had gathered and they were afraid spoilers would leak.

The day filming equipment had to be removed because it suddenly started snowing.

The camera shaking and rattling from the strong sea wind.

No matter how many times I heard those stories, they were fun.

“But honestly, I wanted to see Yeoreum longer on set.”

As someone spoke up, others began agreeing one by one.

“Child Huijae was the best.”

“It was such a shame she disappeared after just four episodes.”

Compliments were nice, but everyone had already had a fair amount of alcohol.

‘If the staff from Eun Baekhap’s side hear this later, it might sound unpleasant. I should cut this off now.’

This was the perfect point to stop.

“I wanted to stay longer too. But I benefited a lot thanks to Baekhap sunbae. The emotional impact of Huijae in the ending kind of gave me some nostalgic bonus points.”

“See? Yeoreum is secretly humble like that.”

“Yeoreum, have you seen the Intube comments? Tons of people say they wish you had played Huijae until the end. Don’t you read the comments?”

I probably read my comments more than anyone else. I could confidently say I read them even more than Manager Ma.

But this was the right moment to end the conversation cleanly.

“Come on. I’m still far behind Baekhap sunbae.”

I simply smiled and stood up, letting the topic shift naturally.

Perfect.

“Where are you going, Yeoreum!”

“Just the restroom for a moment.”

Leaving the louder laughter behind, I stepped outside briefly.

But wow.

Seriously—

‘How does something this dramatic happen in real life....’

Standing behind the shadow of a tree—

my eyes met Eun Baekhap’s.