I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

2002. When was that, exactly?

“How old did you say you are? Born in ’98? Wow, then....”

“You remember the World Cup, right? Huh? You don’t remember? Still, you remember the atmosphere, don’t you?”

“People were born in 2000 too? Holy shit. But then....”

“Maybe they wouldn’t remember the World Cup?”

“Born in 2002? Hey! A World Cup baby!”

“Back then, Korea was really....”

“World....”

“Cup!”

It was the year that drove the entire nation mad over soccer, and also the chief culprit behind the collective neurosis of everyone born anywhere around 2002.

[〈Unfair Trade〉 Gallery]

[I read the original 〈Unfair Trade〉, and they twisted the timeline lol wow this is fucking smart]

The moment they mention the 2002 World Cup, it’s guaranteed the article headline bait pulls in casuals no wonder people say the broadcasting stations are ruthless lol

Anonymous (17.175) More importantly if they caught someone now who wasn’t caught back then, that proves Lee Seohae’s brain is insane and fuck I’m getting high off genius vibes again

Anonymous (3.31) My dad literally only does amateur soccer and doesn’t care about dramas at all, but I guess it came up with his friends lol he was talking about 〈Unfair Trade〉

[Born in 2002 and the second I heard the World Cup mentioned I got chills]

The moment I heard it I was like here we go again

Anonymous (2.84) Fuck you = me TT_TT now another trending post about what 2002 was like is gonna go up again I’m so sick of this!!! I don’t care about Be the Reds T-shirts, elders please leave us alone

˪ Anonymus (112.152) You. modern. kids.... do. you. know. the. era. overflowing. with. patriotism.... when. if. someone. shouted. Ko-re-a. in. the. street. clap. clap. clap. clap. clap. came. flying....

˪ Anonymous (180.70) Excuse me?

With the 2002 World Cup as a single piece of material, 〈Unfair Trade〉 was instantly shoved into the spotlight. The ripple effect was beyond imagination.

[HOT / Looking back at the real insanity of the 2002 World Cup at a time like this]

(funeral hall.jpg)

The dead are dead, but the World Cup must be watched

(nurse.jpg)

Careful, if you get too excited the baby might come out Plz

(temple, church, cathedral.jpg)

Religious grand unification

(people riding on a truck.jpg)

Just get on first

(people shaking a car.jpg)

Come out!!! The ring kiss scene is on!!!

The whole nation was out of its mind together, so nobody even realized how insane it was lol

-Anonymous 1: Back then... we were insane

˪Anonymous 13: Even now if they played well we’re fucking ready to lose our minds again, but they suck so bad we’re staying sane lol fuck

-Anonymous 38: If you look at graduation albums from back then, every kid is wearing a Be the Reds T-shirt T_T LOLOL ah I begged for those red devil horns too, what a dark history

-Anonymous 56: I wanted to become a college student faster later just so I could go out for street cheering lol... but after that our results were never the same

˪Anonymous 101: If you go out on the street now you just look like someone out for a walk

The 2002 World Cup was drawing attention again in online communities. Whether people had lived through that era or had only heard about it, 2002 was undeniably iconic.

Every bit of that exploding attention was absorbed straight into 〈Unfair Trade〉.

[DramaMovieActor TALK / So who do you think the culprit is? T_T all you intuitive fangirls come in]

I was kinda suspicious of the church volunteer guy, but if he was a middle schooler in 2002 then the writer and director basically stamped THIS GUY ISN’T IT on him.... maybe like episode 1 it’s a complete third party?

-Anonymous 1: Yupyup I’m thinking third party too

-Anonymous 3: Since there was mention of a runaway group, it’s gotta be something from that side, 100%

-Anonymous 15: The culprit in episode 1 was someone who literally flashed by for a second, so I’m searching faces till my eyeballs fall out TT_TT give me back my eyesight

Posts kept pouring in nonstop about the 〈Unfair Trade〉 trailer, culprit theories, and the actors’ performances in this week’s episode.

“Huu....”

But the moderator of the 〈Unfair Trade〉 minor gallery, IP 85.152, a cultured intellectual of this age with both brains and refinement, could only sigh as she watched it all unfold.

[DramaMovieActor TALK / If filming stopped, doesn’t that mean he got hurt really bad? Ah what about my actor]

He finally barely got a lead role.. there have already been plenty of dramas whose ratings crashed like this and I feel like 〈Unfair Trade〉 might become one too, I didn’t want to spiral but I’m already going crazy worrying about the plot TT_TT subject: Shin Seojin

-Anonymous 1: Ah same.... when Shin Seojin got cast as lead in 〈Unfair Trade〉 I was genuinely as happy as if it were my own work, ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) but now I’m tearing up from worry

-Anonymous 4: there there.. a week or two should be okay

-Anonymous 7: I’m already mentally ill thinking this is gonna become one of those “4-episode drama” memes aaagh fuck TT__TT

Because they knew exactly how much damage a lead actor’s injury could do to a production.

“And it’s a character that needs a lot of physical movement too....”

At this rate, the story progression would inevitably run into problems. It was only natural to assume that the thrill an investigative drama could give viewers would be cut in half.

Veteran drama addicts were already convinced that 〈Unfair Trade〉’s broadcast schedule would run into trouble.

* * *

“They said it’s the ankle ligament.”

“I heard it’s the ankle.”

“They said the ankle’s broken!”

“I heard it’s an eight-week recovery!”

And this was the entertainment industry, the living proof of the proverb that words without feet travel a thousand miles.

The bad news surrounding 〈Unfair Trade〉 had even drifted over to the team of 〈As Expected, Happy Ending〉. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

“If it’s eight weeks, it’s probably just a hairline fracture? They’re screwed.”

The lead actor of 〈As Expected, Happy Ending〉, a toxic actor who had become far too sincere about script revisions, cackled.

“Ah, seriously, I’m telling you, my luck is amazing.”

He was the textbook type—the so-called romance peddler. He had once sworn to make his name in spy thrillers, noirs, or genre works like 〈Unfair Trade〉 someday, but reality had never been so kind.

After entering as a fairly weighty supporting actor and still failing to break out, he was the tragic sort forced to pivot into romantic comedies.

“Director, I was right, wasn’t I? If the images are similar anyway, people are always gonna pick the more polished one!”

The toxic actor smiled in satisfaction.

In his own mind, he was praising Director Jeong Hongdong’s directing skills, but because he had rewritten the narrative of a character who absolutely needed to break down in a very specific way, the story was already no longer smooth.

“They need to investigate, but the guy can’t use his leg? A crippled detective has no tension, no tension!”

The toxic actor started listing works that had fallen apart after the lead actor got injured. When he brought up the well-known examples 〈Malice〉 and 〈Night’s Klaxon〉, a few staff members nodded.

“Over here, we’ve got the real man the viewers want. Right? Isn’t that right? All those viewers are gonna come to us now. They’re headed for a dragon-head snake-tail collapse.”

The 〈As Expected, Happy Ending〉 team, which had started a week earlier only to have its ratings immediately overtaken by 〈Unfair Trade〉, regained a bit of energy.

Shin Seojin’s injury felt like the signal flare that they could turn the tables again.

“What if in a few years clips start circulating like, ‘A 4-episode one-act drama’?”

Last place.

They might finally be able to peel off the humiliating title that had stuck to 〈As Expected, Happy Ending〉.

“They won’t even make back a quarter of half the production budget!”

Laughing loudly and carrying on, the toxic actor imagined the 〈Unfair Trade〉 team drowning in gloom, unable to figure out how to rewrite the plot.

Of course they would be.

* * *

“Kyaaaaaah!”

And here was the hastily assembled 〈Unfair Trade〉 conference room. The head writer in charge of adaptation screamed.

“Again, tell me one more time. Who did you say the cameo is...? No! Don’t tell me! Wait, let me breathe first!”

The head writer of 〈Unfair Trade〉 exhaled sharply. It felt like her hot breath might punch through her ribs. Her heart thundered.

“Ugh.... you’re so over the top. I’m really seriously only saying this one last time. Ji Haebeom.”

“Kyaaaaaah! What do we do?!”

Performing a dramatic collapse, the head writer sank straight to the floor.

“Writer, are you okay?”

“Leave her. She came from a theater club, so overacting is basically built into her body.”

Director Park and the production PD discussed among themselves which scenes needed revisions. Still sprawled on the floor, the head writer rolled sideways.

‘I... I’m really going to write adult Taeseok, adult Taejin, and baby Huijae all at once....’

Official Yeoreummate first generation and Han Yeoreum’s debut fan. Nickname MelonMaru, glowing with 801 attendance days in Han Yeoreum’s fan café 〈Summer Day〉. She was a terminal solo Han Yeoreum fan.

‘How is this even happening....’

Even when she had first heard about Shin Seojin’s injury, all she could think about was how bleak the future plot had become. After rolling a full 360 degrees on the floor, MelonMaru lifted her head.

“So where exactly are we putting Ji Haebeom?”

“Ugh.... fix your hair first. Look how frizzy it got.”

“How am I supposed to fix my hair when I haven’t even fixed my emotions? Hurry up and pin it for me!”

“Here.”

MelonMaru froze for a moment at the section Director Park pointed out.

“...There?”

“Here.”

“Only there?”

“Only here.”

A cameo.

In other words, a friendship appearance.

The kind of part that was often no more than Passing Pedestrian #1, or someone who had really just dropped by the set and ended up showing their face half as a joke.

“Just here....”

Even so, MelonMaru had never expected it to be this little. She stared holes into the script.

‘But still.’

Just the thought of getting Han Yeoreum and Ji Haebeom into one frame was enough to make her dizzy.

Han Yeoreum was now always the first-choice name on casting lists. Because she had proven herself over and over. Because she had shown that no matter the character, she could make it her own.

‘And Ji Haebeom on top of that?’

Ji Haebeom was, quite literally, a dreamlike existence. Star writers and star directors lined up hoping to someday get him into one of their works.

Lee Seohae, who had not merely broken through the original source but seemed to transcend it, and a cameo that could further solidify that character being Ji Haebeom—it was too massive in scale.

Just imagining the two-shot of Ji Haebeom, who seemed to swallow every surrounding light, and Han Yeoreum, who would force her presence to be known even within that darkness, was enough to make anticipation spike.

“Good. Final fifteen minutes....”

But she was MelonMaru, glowing with 801 attendance days in 〈Summer Day〉.

She was confident she wouldn’t miss even the shortest single moment.

The combination of the two of them would seize the hand holding the remote the instant viewers’ channels happened to stop on SBC.

“Let’s tear it apart properly.”

* * *

After taking two days of rest, I headed back to the 〈Unfair Trade〉 set. With the revised script in hand.

“Did you check the lighting properly? Run the final inspection again!”

“The rails! Who cleaned up these rails?!”

The atmosphere on set was different from before.

‘How should I put this.’

Should I say the anticipation had intensified? Or that the tension had thickened?

Whatever it was, it was hard to see this as the set of a production struck by bad news.

“Yeoreum!”

“Yeoreum, you’re here?”

“Oh no. Your ankle? Is it okay?”

The moment the staff spotted me, they practically ran over. I stretched out my leg to show I was fine.

“That’s a relief. We were really worried....”

“What about senior?”

“Haebeom isn’t here yet. He’ll probably arrive soon. But seriously what is this, what is this— Ji Haebeom as a cameo?!”

Just one mention of Ji Haebeom’s name instantly relaxed the staff’s expressions. He was affecting the set before even arriving.

“When Seojin got hurt, we seriously thought, what are we gonna do....”

“But a cameo like this! It goes beyond perfect damage control—it’s just plain awe-inspiring.”

“It’s my first time seeing him in person. Yeoreum, did you ever film with him during ?”

All of the staff’s curiosity was directed toward Ji Haebeom. I recalled the one time our filming had overlapped in Jinhae.

A person who had been able to express longing for Huijae just by wearing a perfectly tailored suit and gazing at a photo studio.

“How is he?”

How is he? There was no way to put it into words.

“The actor has arrived—.”

The announcement of Ji Haebeom’s arrival rang from the set entrance. Ji Haebeom, a full head taller than the people around him, walked in.

A set with lights switched on here and there. It couldn’t exactly be called dark, and yet....

“Hello.”

In an instant, Ji Haebeom made it feel as if all the light had been cut off around him.

As if he alone were glowing.

His greeting came in a voice that seemed to vibrate through the floor.

“Seeing you again.”

The relief pitcher of 〈Unfair Trade〉, Ji Haebeom, had arrived.

* * *

“Ah.... no way....”

The lighting director, watching Ji Haebeom go through composition and light checks before the main shoot, was moved.

“This bone structure.... this deeply carved shadow line dropping from the nose to the jaw....”

Director Park, watching the monitor, was also struck with fresh admiration.

“Ugh.... he’s making a picture just sitting there. I already want to shout okay.”

The dim interrogation room. Ji Haebeom sat in a metal chair with handcuffs on both wrists.

He had changed the hairstyle that usually exposed his forehead. Long bangs that looked almost unstyled precariously covered his high nose bridge.

“Let’s start with a close-up on his face. We’ll first take the cut where he just stares Lee Seohae down.”

Ji Haebeom’s side profile filled the camera and appeared on the monitor. The interrogation room’s stand lamp cast a deep shadow down his firm nose bridge.

“Excuse me.”

Ji Haebeom, seated in the metal chair, turned his head. His gaze ended on Han Yeoreum.

“Would you sit across from me so I can lock the eyeline?”

Right now, this was a scene filming only Ji Haebeom’s face. There was no real need for Han Yeoreum to sit opposite him.

But Han Yeoreum stepped into the frame immediately. She pulled over a chair and sat across from Ji Haebeom.

Their gazes locked.

The moment Ji Haebeom’s side profile filled the monitor, an unprecedented silence fell over the set.

A top actor everyone wanted to write for taking the time to show up for a mere five-minute appearance was a force far greater than anyone could imagine.

“Ready—.”

Would just this one scene really make that much difference? Some of the staff had thought exactly that.

But the moment they saw Ji Haebeom in person on set, even they changed their minds.

“Action.”

The transformation in Ji Haebeom’s gaze made that happen.