I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

The director scrolled quickly to check the A-cuts, but it was nearly impossible to choose.

“They’re good.”

The problem was not picking the A-cuts—it was deciding which ones weren’t good enough to be used. If the photos were already at this level, the video was going to be even better.

* * *

“Yeoreum-nim! We’ll send you the photos!”

“Wow~. Thank you~.”

Is this... the taste of being a model...?

I received the on-set photos taken by the staff. These were for Yousta uploads.

‘This was in the secondary-use clause too.’

Just as I expected—raising my Yousta presence was paying off. When I hit a million followers someday, I wondered how much better the conditions would get.

Just imagining it made the corners of my mouth lift.

I was eating snacks with a bright grin when the director approached with the storyboard.

“We’re going to link a few simple motions naturally. One scene squeezing the treatment into your hand, then one where you glide your fingers across the lens while looking at the camera. After that, we’ll hit you with some wind—.”

It was a typical sensuous-style advertisement. Clean, stylish cuts stitched together with music. I nodded.

“Okay, Yeoreum-ssi will go first.”

Shouldn’t the actress with an agency—Gaeul—go first? That way she could finish quickly and leave.

I looked at Gaeul to ask if she was fine with it.

“I asked to go after you.”

Gaeul pushed me forward as if telling me to hurry.

Going first? Perfect for me.

* * *

Rrrrk—!

A camera slid along the black rail laid across the floor. Its lens followed Han Yeoreum, who held the treatment in her hand. Yeoreum, holding the purple treatment bottle, stared directly into the lens.

‘She’s really something.’

Standing at the back of the set, Choo Gaeul watched her. And not just her—the staff, every single one of them, were staring at Han Yeoreum.

「One More Look (C)」

Offline or online—what a star needs is the public’s gaze! Your presence—your face, your photo, your video, even your voice—makes people stop just one more time and focus.

“She feels completely different, right?”

“The hair-makeup-coordination difference is big. She definitely hits harder in person than on camera.”

Listening to the staff, Gaeul thought:

‘This isn’t just hair-and-makeup.’

Gaeul had sharp observational skills. She noticed immediately.

‘Her eye-light. How does she change it like that?’

Even with the same expression, Yeoreum’s eyes were different when she was Pi Chaewon versus when she was an advertisement model.

It wasn’t just expression. It was detail.

‘Her expression is the same now too, but the eye-light is totally there!’

It was an incredibly small difference—how much she lifted her eyelids, the angle of her jaw. But Han Yeoreum had a natural instinct for catching such details.

‘This is exactly the kind of detail that people notice—both on set and on screen.’

She knew the energy of people who lived off strong affection. Those were the ones who moved the industry.

People who replay the same scene dozens of times, analyzing and re-analyzing. Han Yeoreum would inevitably be spotted by those exact people.

‘...I’m working hard on lessons too.’

Gaeul could confidently say she was training even harder now than she had back during entrance-exam season. More than when she spent nights memorizing lines.

And one more thing had changed since then—her future had become clearer.

‘Next time, I get the lead. Not you, Han Yeoreum.’

She didn’t want to be overshadowed by Yeoreum again. She wanted to stand at the very least as an equal.

She kept wanting to improve.

‘Good.’

Gaeul had a thought—one that Yeoreum would absolutely beg her to stop thinking if she heard it.

‘I’ll become your #1 fan.’

...But she didn’t know. She wouldn’t just fail to be the #1 fan—she wouldn’t even make it into the first five hundred. She would have to get in line from way, way back.

* * *

Input: holy shit TT_TT look look I got on-set photos TT_TT

Input: (Yeoreum’s-on-set-photo.jpg)

Aetami covered her mouth in the break room. This was an ad agency near Gangnam-gu Office Station. She immediately forwarded the photos to Deduck.B—Reporter Wi Jaehwi.

Bzzz—bzzz—bzzz—.

[What is this baby-cute-soda???]

[What is this baby-bunny-angel???]

[What is this baby-sweet-cotton-candy???]

The moment he saw the photos, Wi Jaehwi lost his mind. Since the finale, neither of them had been able to escape their obsession with Yeoreum. After watching the live broadcast, the exit had completely disappeared.

-Ah, my handwriting~. I don’t normally write like that. But I practiced separately because it would be funnier that way for that scene.

“What...? You practiced that one post-it-note writing scene... separately?”

-The character is like that. I didn’t think Chaewon would ever write with round, cutesy handwriting.

“You’re... this committed to the character?”

But Aetami felt like she was going to starve to death on this tiny amount of content. How did she end up falling for a total newborn, zero-filmography rookie? Tears pricked her eyes.

Input: I’m so glad I made that PPT with my entire soul TT_TT

Ever since she decided to promote Yeoreum, Aetami had become a full-on fanworker. Posting promo threads in communities wasn’t enough—she even recommended Yeoreum as a model for the up-and-coming brand.

It wasn’t hard. With Ep.12 breaking 4 million views, grabbing Han Yeoreum early was winning.

Input: her value’s gonna skyrocket soon... our baby stardust...?

[Obviously say it properly you lunatic]

Soon, you’d be able to see Yeoreum at Olive0. Just thinking about it made her unbelievably happy. No amount of effort could force her smile down.

[JC started something and now other production companies are preparing to enter web dramas too]

Input: We’re gonna get a whole truckload of ParCheHi-flavored stuff holy shit

[Yes yes yes all the scripts are going in that directionㅜ ha... Yeoreum needs to take something quickly before that]

The online reaction was enormous. The old guard of web dramas was clearly about to be replaced by a new wave.

The two of them desperately hoped Yeoreum would bring a next project soon.

‘A drama supporting role would be great, film supporting role even better! Then I could go to a stage greeting.... Or even a one-act drama. If she just appears for a few seconds, I could survive a whole month on that....’

Aetami clenched her teeth in the break room.

Youstagram

A wonderful ALAB shoot. Thank you so so much to everyone who worked hard with me (ᐢ ‘ᵕ’ ᐢ )

Likes 17,898

Comments 107

-Long-haired-girl-I-get-crazy-even-when-I-close-my-eyes-long-haired-girl-I’m-losing-my-mind

˪A comment with some credibility....

-Han Yeoreum what are youuuu~T_T she’s totally become a celebrity lolol

-My baby melon-bread is doing an ad of course I’ll buy it are you stupid?!(∗❛ᴗ❛∗) Just in case I forget message me when Olive0 has a sale

˪Bold.... very bold

As soon as Yeoreum uploaded a picture, the likes skyrocketed. People interested in her were increasing nonstop.

* * *

Dok Gogyeol greeted Yeoreum with a bright smile as she walked in.

‘As expected, Min’s instincts have never been wrong!’

Dok Gogyeol—who never slacked off on online buzz monitoring—already knew exactly how much noise Yeoreum was generating. Her popularity was already enormous.

‘Three real-time trending hits in one month. Where on earth did something like this roll in from....’

The reflection of money flashed in Gogyeol’s eyes. She was certain that anything Yeoreum touched—hair, makeup, clothes, food—would soon become a trend.

“I’d like to dye my hair today.”

“Dye? Why? Your natural hair is so pretty right now.”

“I’m going to an audition. It’s for an extra, but... if I match the character, I think I can get in.”

“...What color? Your hair is so healthy, it feels wasteful to dye it....”

Playing with Yeoreum’s hair strands, Gogyeol sighed—then tilted her head at the unexpected answer.

“Reddish tones?”

“I’m playing an influencer. The main scene is in a club. I need to stand out even in the dark. I’ll trust you, Director~.”

Smiling, Yeoreum began rereading the script from the beginning. Her focus was frightening. It looked like a script she had owned for a long time.

‘The edges are worn out.’

And this was for an extra role—yet she had analyzed it painstakingly from beginning to end. Every blank space was filled with post-its.

‘Even if I don’t know the exact role...’

One thing was certain. An actress who tried to understand a character this deeply would always be recognized by the audience.

Dok Gogyeol checked her scalp condition and hair texture, her eyes sharpening.

‘I’m seriously... lucky.’

Currently, all kinds of dyes were in trend—two-tone, ash, ombré—nothing was difficult to find.

“Attention—! Everyone record this ratio. You’ll all need it someday.”

As she mixed the dye, she called out to her staff.

“This exact ratio?”

“Yes. Keep the color identical.”

“Director, who did this hair originally? Is it a trend?”

Gogyeol grinned.

“Yeah. It’s a trend. Maybe not right this moment, but...”

And then she replied in a cryptic tone:

“Probably right after the movie releases?”

Yeoreum’s natural black hair slowly transformed in Gogyeol’s hands into a light, flashy color—perfectly suited for an influencer type.

* * *

-This stop is Chungmuro, Chungmuro. Transfers ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) to Line 4 are available at this station.

Had subway announcements ever sounded this loud? I tightened my grip on the script and stepped out.

‘Finally, Chungmuro...!’

Myeong Jeha had offered me Director Gong’s audition.

‘The possibility of being in ....’

Once upon a time, that movie was unavoidable—constantly on TV, constantly in the news, dominating theaters. For Season 2, casting news came out even before production.

And now... Han Yeoreum, possibly in it.

“I haven’t passed yet, though!”

In front of the building, I drew in a deep breath. Chungmuro air.

“Of course it’s my place!”

I grabbed the door handle boldly and stepped inside. And in that moment—I doubted my own eyes.

“...Huh?”