I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

[This drama is a fictional work based on the creator’s imagination, and the characters, events, and organizations that appear in it are unrelated to reality.]

The subtitle appeared over the dim screen, and as the image slowly brightened, episode 1 of 〈Unfair Trade〉 began.

It started at Gam Seonghwan’s house.

The camera naturally swept across the interior.

On the wall hung a solo photo of Gam Seonghwan confidently punching forward in his taekwondo uniform. Beside it was his little sister’s hundred-day photo in a pink hanbok, and next to that, a family portrait with everyone smiling brightly.

“Honey! I’m off—. Ow, ow, ow. Tsk.”

“Whoa, whoa! Be careful on your way!”

Rushing to the front door while shrugging into his jumper, Seonghwan’s father stepped on a toy lying on the floor and winced in pain.

“Dad, you leaving?”

“Yeah. My princess—.”

Pulling his sleepy-eyed daughter, who had come to see him off, into his arms, Seonghwan’s father rubbed his rough stubble against her cheek.

“Daddy’s gonna go catch all the bad guys, okay? Hmm?”

He felt around to make sure the handcuffs inside his coat were still there, then stroked his daughter’s head several times.

Teenage Seonghwan, already dressed in his school uniform, watched the tearfully sweet farewell between father and daughter with calm detachment while eating breakfast.

A few ten-thousand-won bills were placed on the table.

“Don’t go buying too many random things there, got it? It’s all a waste, a waste. Better spend it on something you’ll actually eat.”

“Okay.”

“If you start feeling carsick, make sure to buy a drink on the way. If you get thirsty, your stomach gets even queasier.”

Seonghwan, halfheartedly nodding along to his mother’s nagging, grabbed his bag.

His little sister clung tightly to his leg.

“Oppa, take me too.”

“How am I supposed to take you?”

“But still! Still!”

“Seongeun. Your oppa has to go to school—.”

His much younger sister, with their big age gap, stubbornly held onto the leg of Seonghwan’s school uniform pants.

With his sister practically attached to his leg, Seonghwan trudged toward the front door.

“I’ll buy you a headband. You wouldn’t be able to ride anything there anyway. You’re too tiny.”

At his words, Seongeun’s mood seemed to improve, and she broke into a bright grin.

Just like his father had done, Seonghwan felt around inside his coat to make sure his wallet was still there.

“I’m leaving.”

“Right. Don’t come back after eating dinner out.”

“Oppa! Have a good day!”

Leaving behind his mother holding his sister in her arms and his little sister fluttering her hand in farewell—

Creak—

Bang.

Seonghwan closed the door and left.

“Hey. Let’s ride this. They say it’s the scariest one.”

“What the heck—. You guys can’t just go by yourselves.”

At the amusement park, Seonghwan spent a happy time with his friends.

The Viking ride full of lively screams, the carousel spinning with sparkling lights, colorful cotton candy—everything was full of hope.

As teenage Seonghwan laughed brightly while riding the attractions, the scene fell into slow motion over his smiling face.

Then the screen returned to the house.

Knock knock—. Knock knock knock knock—.

Seonghwan’s mother, who had been taking a nap, opened her eyes groggily.

Worried that the continued knocking might wake her daughter, who was still deeply asleep, she staggered toward the front door.

“Who is it?”

A monotonous piano note began to play underneath the scene.

It was a nursery rhyme melody, the kind that would familiarly come from a child’s toy.

That strangely peaceful music only made the unease worse.

The hand of the man standing beyond the door came into view.

A sharpened blade glinted.

Click.

At last, the door opened—

A discordant sound like piano keys being crushed rang out.

Drrrriiiing....

The sound of the house phone, the mother’s scream, and the crying of a child all tangled together into a horrific mess.

-The person you are calling is unavailable at this time....

“Hey! Seonghwan! What’s wrong?”

“They’re not picking up....”

Seonghwan frowned in confusion when ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) no one answered the house phone.

In front of him was a display stand lined with colorful headbands.

After agonizing while holding two of them, Seonghwan made up his mind.

He would buy both.

* * *

“See you.”

“Yeah, you too—.”

In the sunset-drenched residential neighborhood, Seonghwan walked home with dragging steps after parting with his friends.

But something felt wrong.

The scenery he saw every day felt strangely unfamiliar.

“Oh dear... how pitiful....”

“Kids, get back! Tsk!”

“What do we do.... Oh my god....”

Police cars and people.

Seonghwan stopped in place for a moment.

Then someone spotted him and covered their mouth with both hands.

“Oh no. What do we do? What about Seonghwan....”

Pitiful.

The moment that word hit him like a starting signal, the young Seonghwan ran.

Just as he was about to rush into the house, someone grabbed his arm.

“Seonghwan.”

There was firmness in the voice.

“No.”

Seonghwan blankly opened his mouth.

“Uncle....”

“You can’t go in.”

“But it’s our house... why?”

It was his father’s colleague.

Pity filled the man’s face, which had already witnessed the devastation.

“No, kid.... for now—”

“It’s our house! Why?!”

As young Seonghwan struggled wildly, his bag was flung to the ground.

The headbands meant for his sister slipped out of the front pocket.

“Mom! Seongeun!”

He called for the mother and little sister who should have been inside.

But no answer came back.

The police line blocked him like a barrier.

Someone from inside stepped out.

“Shouldn’t the chief come in and take a look? The degree of mutilation on the bod—”

“Shut your mouth.”

But Seonghwan had already seen it.

The splattered blood through the gap in the open door.

The pale, tiny hand of his little sister.

The screen faded out.

-The culprit who murdered a woman and child in broad daylight in a residential neighborhood has still not been caught.... The case is falling into a labyrinth. It is truly a horrific tragedy.

On the TV, the anchor reported the case.

But that only lasted a few minutes.

Soon it moved on to the next news story, and then the next.

“....”

On the floor where his sister’s toys once lay scattered, empty soju bottles from his father now took their place.

Staring blankly at the screen, his father raised another bottle with trembling hands.

Because his hands shook so violently, the harsh liquor spilled down and soaked the newspaper on the table.

By then, brand-new incidents had already taken over the front page.

Every day, countless more bad people appeared.

And the case faded.

Inside the house where his mother’s and sister’s blood had once covered everything, the two of them lived each day as if they themselves were dead.

* * *

‘As expected of Director Park.’

Even the once-loud samgyeopsal restaurant had gone quiet.

That was thanks to how perfectly the opening atmosphere had been set.

The flow of an ordinary happy family’s precious daily life shattering in an instant had passed as smoothly as running water.

Before anyone realized it, everyone was focused on the screen.

Even though they all already knew episode 1 inside and out.

‘It’s not overly melodramatic, and it’s not excessively provocative either.’

〈Unfair Trade〉 featured many different cases.

If the opening had been built out of a shocking, graphic scene, the ratings might have been high, but the later progression would become the problem.

‘If viewers got their first taste with something too spicy, everything afterward would feel bland, and then there’d be no way for the ratings to rise.’

Episode 1 mattered more than anything.

It had to explain to viewers what kind of person this character was, what he would do moving forward, and what the overall tone of the drama would be.

‘Since this kind of role is a first for both Shin Seojin sunbae and me.’

It definitely wouldn’t be able to surpass the impact of 〈The Great Garland〉.

In ratings, in buzz, in every way, it would be hard for 〈Unfair Trade〉 to catch up to the drama that had written new history.

‘And everyone already knows that....’

That was why, compared to the previous work, there had to be something it did clearly better.

Otherwise, it would inevitably be recorded as the “slightly disappointing next step” for Shin Seojin and Han Yeoreum.

Knowing that better than anyone, Shin Seojin had tucked in his lower lip and was staring intently at the screen.

At some point, the child actor portion ended.

Shin Seojin appeared.

Seonghwan had lost not only his mother, but later his father as well—yet he had grown up well.

As if proving that, an adult Seonghwan with a relaxed expression joked around with his colleagues inside a car.

“I’d die happy if I could just go wash up at a bathhouse.”

“As for me, I just want to lie on a bed for even one hour....”

“You bastards dream big. Me? I just wish the convenience store would stock Jeonju bibimbap for once. Why is it always only tuna mayo every time I go?”

Inside the car during their stakeout, the detectives waited for the criminal, casually loosening the tension with meaningless chatter.

“Shh.”

The moment the smiling Seonghwan lifted his index finger to his lips, the atmosphere changed.

The air inside the car froze instantly.

“Ooooooh—.”

“Damn, Seojin’s charisma is no joke—!”

“What are you all doing?”

Once the exhilarating action sequence continued, everyone seemed to relax and started tossing playful comments toward the lead actor.

Shin Seojin smiled proudly at the scene where he rolled down the stone staircase without sparing his body.

“But while filming that, I scraped my elbow here. Can you see it?”

“That must’ve hurt.”

“But it still looks kind of cool, right? What do you think. Don’t you think women would like this kind of thing? Or no? Seriously. Be honest. Please, seriously.”

“Ah, definitely. The classic tough-body detective role always works.”

Now fully relaxed, Shin Seojin poured cider into my glass.

Fifteen minutes of the child actor portion, ten minutes of adult Shin Seojin’s action scenes, and the rest moved into the flow of a new case unfolding.

This was where I came in—the final stretch.

‘I need to appear already....’

When was my bragging time coming?

* * *

In the dark SBC director’s office, the director sat inside, lightly bouncing his leg.

He too was watching episode 1 of 〈Unfair Trade〉 live.

-Government support measures to resolve welfare blind spots are expected to expand. Recently the government has moved to comprehensively cover welfare recipients....

“Ah, damn. Tax money’s leaking out nonstop.”

“Some people pay money, some people get money? Makes me lose my appetite.”

A noisy sundae-guk restaurant.

The TV left on in the corner was playing the news.

Between the grumbling voices of the customers, Gam Seonghwan’s booming voice rang out.

“Auntie! Four large specials!”

With hurried hands, Gam Seonghwan lifted the utensil holder and set a spoon in front of the youngest detective too.

As if the steaming soup weren’t hot at all, they devoured it while listening to the news.

-A man in his seventies survives by collecting cardboard, but the inside of his residence is filled with all kinds of trash and waste, creating severe sanitation concerns. Nearby residents have raised complaints, saying ‘the welfare funds aren’t being properly used’....

Watching the screen, the SBC director coolly analyzed the flow.

‘Shin Seojin definitely nailed the outward image transformation.’

It had a completely different texture from Lee Taejin in his perfectly tailored three-piece suits.

The fact that Director Park had inserted an action scene into the front portion—a scene that hadn’t even existed in the original—was clearly meant to imprint a brand-new Shin Seojin into the viewers’ minds.

‘And the pacing of tension and release is excellent.’

If the mood had stayed sunken for the entire first episode, there would have been viewer drop-off.

For general viewers, aside from the smaller audience that firmly preferred genre dramas, there needed to be devices that refreshed the dark mood.

The SBC director recalled the 〈Unfair Trade〉 revision meeting.

That moment when Han Yeoreum pushed Noh Seungchan aside and became Lee Seohae of 〈Unfair Trade〉.

At the time, Director Park had said:

“This is Gam Seonghwan’s story. The content itself makes that clear, doesn’t it? Gam Seonghwan’s revenge story, the detective who grows by overcoming his wounds. Everything is centered around Shin Seojin.”

That was right.

Even in the original work, it was centered on the protagonist Gam Seonghwan.

Only in the latter half, when the cast gradually expanded, did Lee Seohae’s screen time increase, but the protagonist was still Gam Seonghwan.

What people commonly called a single male lead centerpiece.

“Aww. But that’s our perspective. The viewers receiving it can think however they want. You know how it is, right? The final stretch is always the most important.”

Would episode 1 end on the shocking moment the case plunged into a labyrinth, with Shin Seojin’s face closing it out?

Or would it end with the arrival of Lee Seohae, brought in as the relief pitcher?

They had debated it for a long time.

There was no directing choice more important than this, so everyone had to put their heads together.

The vote had split fifty-fifty.

Too many interests were tangled together.

The only one left was SBC’s director.

His opinion would decide the ending of episode 1.

“...Let’s go with Lee Seohae.”

Episode 1 mattered more than anything.

It had to explain what kind of person this character was, what they would do going forward, and what the overall atmosphere of the drama would be.

And the SBC director believed Han Yeoreum would do exactly that.

She could best explain what kind of person Gam Seonghwan was, say in his place what he would do next, and help establish the drama’s entire tone all at once.

In this industry, there was something people often called an actor’s groove.

That familiar expression or speech rhythm an actor naturally fell into while acting.

The SBC director knew Han Yeoreum had her own distinct groove too.

That was feeling.

If an actor with an intelligent image appeared, people immediately had the sense the story would turn into a battle of wits.

On the other hand, if an actor known for villain roles appeared, viewers instinctively sensed the possibility of crime.

But Han Yeoreum had not yet been covered in any one fixed image.

Not yet.

‘Her acting spectrum is too wide.’

A high school girl in a pure-romance academy story.

A dead-fish-eyed countryside writer.

A sunny-headed influencer.

A shamaness with overwhelming divine power.

A heartbreaking first love.

And most recently, a calm college student.

Han Yeoreum’s appearance did not make viewers predict where the story would go.

It simply acted as a signal that from now on, things were truly about to become interesting.

And layered on top of that was Han Yeoreum’s uniquely absorbing presence.

That groove of presence that instantly forced viewers to focus.

That was what had made the SBC director impulsive.

‘Thinking back on it now, it almost feels like I was possessed by something....’

Even he found it a little strange that his past self had believed she could solve all of that through her appearance alone.

Still, hoping his choice had not been wrong, the SBC director fixed his eyes on the screen.

What direction that decision would lead this drama’s fate toward—

would soon be revealed.