I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

Goo Minho smiled at himself in the mirror. A crisp shirt that made him look impeccably polished, neat pomaded hair. By anyone’s standards, he looked perfectly suited to be the sexy villain of 〈Faster Than the Law 〉, and he admired the sight with satisfaction.

“If I land this one properly, then even Ji Haebeom won’t be shit—.”

If K from 〈Faster Than the Law 〉 had generated that much buzz as a deranged punk delinquent, and Director Sa from 〈Faster Than the Law 2〉 had done the same as a tidy sociopath, then Chen Wei, the full-fledged villain of 〈Faster Than the Law 3〉, would attract popularity on a completely incomparable level.

Chen Wei (Chén Wěi): One day, he suddenly appeared in this world. That simple sentence explained Chen Wei’s entire life. In the blink of an eye, he had taken root on the dark streets of midnight Macau.

Chen Wei’s goal was noon in Macau—or something beyond even that.

If he made use of the network cables spread beneath his feet, wouldn’t it be possible to turn the entire world into Macau?

“Just reading the character sheet—damn! Fuck, this is it.”

Where K had mostly been built on slick, cocky dialogue, and Director Sa had relied on calm, composed lines, Chen Wei’s dialogue was almost nonexistent.

That meant he had to show everything with his body.

“Undo one button—. Let’s go—.”

Goo Minho could proudly say he had bulked up for this very day.

An actor who explodes in popularity after meeting the right project.

How long had he envied people like that? Now that place would belong to Goo Minho.

Confidence dripped from his stride as he entered the upscale Chinese restaurant. The gleaming marble floor and the glossy black leather tips of his shoes suited him perfectly.

“Hello—.”

Up until that exact moment, that was what he thought.

“Minho, good to see you. Sit wherever you’re comfortable. We got here a bit early.”

“Thank you, Director...! But this place...?”

The moment he spotted Joo Junseo occupying a seat, Goo Minho’s expression froze.

“This is Joo Junseo. You know him, right? He was the lead in that SBC rom-com recently. Since he happened to be in Taiwan, we invited him while we were at it.”

“Ahhhh... of course! Of course! 〈The Team Leader at Twelve O’Clock〉. Of course. Nice to meet you.”

Watching Joo Junseo bow his head politely in greeting, Goo Minho felt a chill of unease.

‘I’ve fucking seen this setup so many times before....’

Goo Minho had swapped out plenty of pre-decided roles in the past. Nothing huge enough to shake the industry, but he’d replaced one or two supporting roles more than once by drinking with directors and playing the big-bro little-bro routine.

‘Don’t tell me they’re trying to push me out here? With that bastard?’

Goo Minho was an actor who had climbed up from theater. In terms of talent, he wouldn’t lose to some green rookie like that.

The situation was ridiculous enough to make him laugh, but he smoothly took control of the mood.

“Hyungnim, it’s been a while!”

“Hey, hey. Someone listening would think we’re gangsters. Just sit down.”

The first face anyone thought of when it came to 〈Faster Than the Law 〉 was Kwak Cheolsik.

‘This type is easy to get close to!’

He’d even made sure to show his face several times at the 〈Do It and It Works〉 academy, so the favorability was already there.

“Sunbae-nim. Hello. It’s my first time meeting you. I’m Goo Minho!”

“Yes. Hello.”

And then there was Yun Hyeonjo, polite but always careful to keep a line between himself and everyone else.

‘It’s hard to find someone this sane in this business.’

Judging from the reactions of those two, the one who had brought Joo Junseo must be...

‘That one?’

Goo Minho swept his gaze over the weak-looking, scrawny Chungmuro bureaucrat who didn’t seem capable of controlling actors on set.

‘Or that one?’

Then his eyes landed on Han Yeoreum, the mascot of 〈Faster Than the Law 〉 and the actress who had been doing quite well lately.

‘Doesn’t matter either way.’

With a smirk, Goo Minho walked toward the empty chair. He ended up seated with Han Yeoreum in the middle and Joo Junseo beside her, but that didn’t matter. He was still closer to the investors.

“This is our first time meeting, right? I’m personally a huge fan.”

“Hahaha. A sunbae like you is my fan?”

“Of course. Huijae from 〈The Great Garland〉! Who hasn’t seen that?”

“Wow... really.... Thank you so much.”

It was entirely intentional that Goo Minho was the only one in the room not properly speaking to Joo Junseo. But Junseo simply picked up a wet wipe and calmly cleaned his hands, his face unreadable.

‘The bastard’s got nerve, huh?’

Goo Minho simply waited for the investors to arrive.

Because he was truly confident.

‘I’m the kind of handsome that sells even better in Greater China!’

* * *

Mr. Lin Zhihao, who had been drinking Creamy Soda almost every day lately, loosened his belt by one notch. The moment he got home, Meiling showed remarkable initiative by grabbing a can and pouring it straight into his mouth.

“Dad! Hurry, just drink this first!”

“This, this is what, Mei—mmmph... cough, cough....”

“I heard there’s an entry number under the can tab. Let’s just drink only this for a while.”

Mr. Lin had no choice but to swallow the Creamy Soda sliding smoothly down his throat together with tears.

“Director Lin, you’ve been looking great these days. Your complexion is totally different.”

“There really is nothing as buzzworthy as K-TV these days. Director, your decision was truly amazing!”

That’s not it....

But Mr. Lin didn’t bother explaining that he was drinking Creamy Soda every day because of his daughter’s fangirling. Come to think of it, everyone did seem to have gained a little weight.

This was a Chinese restaurant in Taipei.

And today was an important gathering where investors from Taiwan and Hong Kong would meet together.

‘Normally, they would’ve held separate meetings in each country....’

But with the Korean Wave creating an unusually intense boom in Taiwan, the Hong Kong side seemed to be getting restless too. 〈Faster Than the Law 〉 had always been actively distributed throughout Asia.

The Hong Kong film market was more centered around domestic productions and Hong Kong-China co-productions, so it was different in flavor from Taiwan’s exceptional success, but they clearly had possibilities in mind.

The anticipation of opening up a new market.

Knock, knock.

A server knocked and gently opened the door. Mr. Lin’s eyes first landed on Han Yeoreum, Taiwan’s Nation’s First Love, whom he had met a few times—and had seen far too often on the walls of his daughter’s room.

And then...

‘Where have I seen him?’

His gaze shifted to the young man in the flamboyant printed shirt.

Mr. Lin shook hands with Director Gong, greeted Kwak Cheolsik and Yun Hyeonjo, and even accepted Goo Minho’s ninety-degree bow, yet ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) the feeling of familiarity still lingered.

‘Where... hmm, that face is way too familiar....’

By coincidence, Mr. Lin and the flamboyant young man ended up seated diagonally across from each other, giving him every opportunity to study the face.

Long eyelashes, sharply upturned cat-like eyes, an overall gorgeous face with unusually elegant lines for a man.

“He definitely looks like he prepared a lot, doesn’t he?”

The Hong Kong investors seemed more drawn to Goo Minho’s bold, masculine handsomeness. His lightly tanned skin looked as natural as if he had been sun-kissed in Macau.

“Of course. Back in the day, I even dreamed of becoming a national athlete. I’m a Taekwondo black belt, so I’m really confident in flashy action.”

When the interpreter relayed the Hong Kong investor’s words, Goo Minho answered energetically.

“This is footage from when I was still competing. I was especially good at spinning hook kicks.”

He even showed a video he had prepared in advance. His self-promotion was impeccable. The clip of Goo Minho extending his legs cleanly and powerfully in the competition arena caught not only the Hong Kong investors’ interest, but the Taiwanese side as well.

“Reading the script, it looked like the chemistry between the two of them would be especially important this time. To make the incidents in dangerous yet beautiful Macau more compelling, it needs that edge-of-your-seat feeling, doesn’t it?”

One of the investors, interested in Han Yeoreum, brought up the chemistry between the pair.

“Of course! Younger female audiences especially love that feeling of total contrast. Even just the difference in our hand sizes—”

It was the exact moment the flamboyant young man turned his head. As his slightly long bangs brushed the corner of his eyes, Mr. Lin finally realized it.

“〈The Cherry on the Parfait Belongs to the Heroine〉...?”

He was one of the faces on the posters plastered all over his daughter’s room. A poster she had bought from Korea at a markup—using the technical fangirl term, premium resale.

It was the face from Han Yeoreum’s debut work.

Because the striking hair color had been replaced by calm black hair, he hadn’t recognized him immediately, but it was definitely the same person.

“What is that?”

“Is it a manga?”

As the Taiwanese investors showed interest in Mr. Lin’s sudden remark, Han Yeoreum, having heard the translation, smiled brightly.

“That’s right! He’s the actor who played opposite me in that. Have you seen 〈ParCheHi〉?”

“...As someone with a profound interest in Korean visual media, it would be impossible for me not to know it. It opened a new market for web dramas.” 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

At the phrase new market, the Hong Kong investors’ eyes lit up.

Mr. Lin broke into a slight sweat under the attention pouring in from all directions, but the face of the flamboyant young man overlapped in his mind with Meiling.

“Ahhh! It’s too short! Way too short! Why is there so little love in unnie’s filmography?!”

He could practically hear his daughter’s voice screaming that on a regular basis.

“But that’s why I love it. Squeezing romance out of crumbs is the truest romance.”

For years, Meiling had replayed the barely-thirty-minute web drama’s romance scenes over and over.

“I’m not even squeezing crumbs anymore.... I just love excavating unnie’s romance....”

Come to think of it, the flamboyant young man hadn’t bulked up, but his natural frame was excellent.

The printed shirt should have stolen the eye, yet he won fairly and squarely with his face alone. Someone beside Mr. Lin spoke up.

“Come to think of it, isn’t he that actor from 〈The Team Leader at Twelve O’Clock〉? The one K-TV is planning to air after 〈The Great Garland〉!”

Having spent every ounce of energy securing the broadcast rights to 〈The Great Garland〉, Joo Junseo’s face suddenly snapped into perfect clarity in Mr. Lin’s mind.

And it clearly wasn’t just the Taiwanese side, because even the Hong Kong investors brightened.

“Ahhh! Now I definitely remember. I really enjoyed that!”

“He gives off such a different feeling with long hair. His image changes dramatically with every styling.”

〈The Team Leader at Twelve O’Clock〉 had aired first in Hong Kong and Singapore.

As the sharp-tongued yet oddly pathetic team leader at a fashion magazine, especially with his constantly changing outfits every episode, he had melted the hearts of countless female fans.

The focus of the conversation shifted to Joo Junseo in an instant.

“And have you perhaps seen 〈Top Grade〉?”

Han Yeoreum asked Mr. Lin with a bright smile. Mr. Lin, somehow cashing in on the fangirl benefits that should have belonged to his daughter, nodded.

“The glamorous explosion scene they filmed in Macau was hugely popular in Korea, and Sunbae-nim’s fans even traveled separately to Macau because of it. He told me several times how much he enjoyed filming there, so later I really wanted to go too.”

“The Macau scene?”

“There’s an explosion scene?”

At Han Yeoreum’s words that Joo Junseo had already been to Macau, the Hong Kong investors’ eyes gleamed.

In 〈Faster Than the Law 3〉, overseas location filming would happen simultaneously in Hong Kong and Macau. The episode involved Influencer 1 impulsively going from Hong Kong to Macau, where the 사건 unfolded.

For now, mainland Chinese capital was blocked because of the Korean content ban, but that could reopen at any time.

‘If Joo Junseo’s popularity rises even more?’

Right now, Hong Kong and Macau existed in the gray zone of the Korean content ban. Mainland China prohibited Korean Wave content, but over here it could still be handled as perfectly legal imports.

If the ban were ever lifted later, Joo Junseo had more than enough potential to rise even further.

‘〈The Team Leader at Twelve O’Clock〉 hasn’t aired in China yet!’

Because of its unfortunate broadcast timing around the start of the ban, it had never been shown in the massive Chinese market, but in Hong Kong and Singapore it had definitely been a hit.

There was no way China wouldn’t react strongly too. And Taiwan was also preparing for broadcast.

Every condition lined up perfectly.

At that moment, someone’s phone screen lit up with Joo Junseo’s trailer entrance scene from 〈Top Grade〉.

Joo Junseo grinning viciously as he swept chips together, the jackpot exploding in a vast casino, white champagne foam bubbling over,

Boom—!

The bomb detonated. Joo Junseo’s playful yet weightless movements, the exhilarating freedom on his face as he ran out of the burning building. All of it overlaid with a lavish violin melody.

“Oh my....”

“That’s right, 〈Top Grade〉! It was really popular in Hong Kong too.”

“I remember it got a pretty big reaction in China as well. What about Taiwan?”

“We had a very strong buzz volume too.”

With so many major top actors in it—and with Joo Junseo somewhat buried beneath Gi Juye, the former Hallyu idol—he hadn’t gotten proper focus, but 〈Top Grade〉 had definitely not performed poorly overseas.

“Hahaha! You’re all paying way too much attention to this guy. Shouldn’t we talk about business now? Business.”

Sensing something was going very wrong, Goo Minho tried to naturally steer the atmosphere back.

But by then, both the Hong Kong and Taiwanese investors had already engraved in their minds just how useful the card called Joo Junseo could be.

“Action always looks most natural when it’s done by someone who originally used their body, right? Isn’t that so, Sunbae-nim?”

Goo Minho sent an SOS signal to Kwak Cheolsik. But Kwak didn’t respond with much enthusiasm.

“Didn’t Junseo also handle action scenes in 〈Top Grade〉?”

“Does Goo Minho’s spinning hook kick have anything... special, something uniquely his?”

“If he does, I’d love to see it.”

But the investors’ interest had long since shifted entirely to Joo Junseo.

After listening to the interpreter relay the request, Joo Junseo thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Nothing particularly special, but....”

He raised his right hand. The chopsticks in his long, elegant fingers spun rapidly.

So fast it looked like the footage had been sped up.

Bang!

With a smooth flourish, Joo Junseo spun the chopsticks and then struck the table as if punctuating the motion.

Just like Chen Wei handling a jackknife as casually as a toy.

“I’m pretty good with my hands.”

Mr. Lin Zhihao covered his mouth with both hands.