I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

Meeting Myeong Jeha again right after that serious conversation we had not long ago makes me unconsciously become solemn and polite.

“Jeha recommended Yeoreum to me. Said she was way better than Do Gyeoul. Right?”

No, I take that back. Myeong Jeha is a really good guy. Five stars. Seriously. How could I ever have felt uncomfortable around a classmate like this, even for a moment? I feel sorry now.

“Of course. You felt it at the set today, didn’t you? How was she, sunbaenim.”

At Jeha’s question, Detective Yoon Hyeonjo nodded without hesitation.

“Ah~. She was good. I thought she’d be nervous because it was her first time, but she wasn’t.”

“Haha. Sunbaenim, you can speak comfortably. Both Yeoreum and I are way younger.”

Yun Hyeonjo is a really good senior. Five stars.

“Alright~. I’ll talk casually then. But whether she’s better than Do Gyeoul, that I don’t know yet. I worked with Do Gyeoul once when she was in middle school.”

...Did you think I’d judge you favorably for that? Wrong. Detective Yoon, you are just a so-so senior. One star!

“That’s right. You worked with Do Gyeoul in a sageuk once! Was it five years ago?”

“Haha. How was she back then?”

I hid the way my eyes were about to turn into dead-fish eyes and brightened them as if I were genuinely curious about the senior’s story.

‘The truth is, I am not at all, absolutely not, even slightly curious.’

Yun Hyeonjo reminisced for a moment, then answered neatly.

“Well~. While acting, it felt like a wall was put up? Like she was setting something down so the partner couldn’t catch up. You know that monologue scene she got famous for~? The one she carried alone for five whole minutes. I was at the set then.”

Ah, I remember. That clip of “the majestic rage of a fallen noble’s child” that spread everywhere. Even though her role as a child actor was only four episodes long, until the very end of the drama all people ever talked about was Do Gyeoul.

“Her everyday-life acting is ordinary~. But her angry acting, she’s really good at it. As if she sees nothing around her.”

Once again, I truly felt Do Gyeoul’s position. Do Gyeoul, who has spent more than half her life acting.

As I stayed silent, Yun Hyeonjo poured soda into my empty glass and said,

“You should try sageuk someday too~. I think you’d be good.”

“...Thank you!”

“Oh right. Yeoreum-ssi, I didn’t tell you to speak casually but I dropped honorifics anyway~. Sorry.”

“It’s fine. Please speak comfortably.”

I couldn’t help feeling a little bitter.

‘When will I ever get to try sageuk....’

I stared at the transparent soda in my glass, wishing it would turn into soju.

“We’ll be seeing each other for a long time, so let’s all speak comfortably, right? Yeoreum-ssi, even to me you seem better than Do Gyeoul! I, Gong Mujin, guarantee it! Don’t get intimidated! Drink, drink! Just drink it and forget! And don’t worry during the next shoot.”

Is Director Gong named Gong because ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) he’s good at gonggam (empathy)? Worried I might lose confidence, Director Gong was cheering me up, so I performed a soda one-shot performance right in front of him.

“One more!!!”

* * *

Inside the van on the way home, Myeong Jeha put a mint-flavored candy into his mouth. He was slightly annoyed because he had matched Director Gong’s mood and ended up drinking alcohol he didn’t even like.

‘Still, there was something to gain.’

It was the first time he had ever seen Yun Hyeonjo attend a small private get-together like this. If it wasn’t a wrap party with reporters attending, he never even showed his face.

Jeha looked at Yeoreum, who was dozing off next to him.

‘How many variables is this now?’

He recalled every flow he had recorded. One unchanging truth: unless Myeong Jeha moved, nothing changed. It was like a law of nature that could never be overturned.

But this time was different.

‘This is only the second time I’ve been twenty....’

Myeong Jeha had always restarted from age twenty-one. This made it halfway certain. Han Yeoreum was probably the master key of this endlessly repeating regression.

“Yeoreum.”

“Mm....”

“Do well.”

“Yes....”

Even in her sleep, she answered faithfully, as if dreaming she was still on set.

Jeha thought of the upcoming shoot for .

He hadn’t said it aloud, but it wasn’t Jeha who delivered that one-episode script to Yeoreum.

“Jeha. You know your classmate, Director So. That person. She was looking for Pi Chaewon. Said she really wanted to work with her or something. Strange, right?”

“...Chief. Could you connect me with Director So? I’m close with Yeoreum. I’ll contact her right away.”

It was Director So who first sought out Han Yeoreum. With this, one of the hypotheses Jeha had predicted turned out correct.

Even without Jeha making any moves, the present was beginning to change.

For the first time, Jeha became the audience. The audience of a world where the protagonist was Han Yeoreum.

‘How strange.’

In Jeha’s memory, was a piece where Do Gyeoul had taken the lead several times.

‘Though the results were always just so-so.’

Sometimes, really out of nowhere, Do Gyeoul behaved as if she were desperately thirsty for roles like that. As if trying to prove she was no different from anyone else.

‘But it won’t work. Not this time... even more so.’

Thinking of Do Gyeoul, whom he had watched all this time, Jeha reached a precise conclusion. The wall she had never been able to reach no matter how many loops occurred.

“Work hard.”

“Yes....”

Looking at Yeoreum, who kept answering even while asleep, Jeha couldn’t help but laugh. From the driver’s seat, Jeha’s chief glanced at him through the rearview mirror with a “what’s going on” look.

“I’m in a good mood.”

“Jeha, this isn’t a dating rumor or anything, right? Noona trusts you.”

“Who knows....”

“Hey! You’re supposed to be too busy choosing your next project to even think about that!”

He remembered how earlier at the izakaya, when the part-timer said she enjoyed , Yeoreum had smiled brightly in an instant, as if she had never been down at all. Thinking of that made him smile again. He couldn’t even remember when he last felt something like this.

“Jeha.... Jeha, no, right? Huh?”

Jeha didn’t bother easing the chief’s anxiety. He couldn’t control his expression because he kept wanting to smile. Meanwhile, Han Yeoreum slept soundly.

* * *

At last, all preparations for shooting were finished.

PD Hwang and the production team completed the location setup and finalized the schedule. Vehicle assignments and additional equipment checks were finished as well.

On a day perfect for an outing, the team began their crank-in.

Before the sun even rose, the filming team and Director So got into the car and headed for the destination.

“Wow~. I hope we arrive soon....”

In the van, Director So hummed with anticipation. The green countryside scenery she had taken in during location scouting. She could already picture how beautifully it would appear on screen.

‘Everything is exactly like I imagined.’

A tranquil rural village. The blue sky, the green leaves sparkling vividly whenever sunlight touched them. And layered on top of that, the voice of Yeoreum she had heard during the script reading event not long ago.

‘I’m excited.’

Even if it was just a one-episode drama, So Yesol’s heart thumped. Whether it was a one-episode piece or a forty-episode series, what did it matter?

‘It’s going to be... a good work.’

A piece that stays in the viewer’s heart for a very, very long time. That was the true winner. So Yesol wanted to create such a work—no, she believed she could.

“Don’t go....”

If someone cried like that, she felt certain they would remain in viewers’ hearts for a long time, becoming a source of comfort.

Recalling Yeoreum, who would approach the audience with a humble, tender warmth unlike the light, sweet feeling of , the team arrived at the site....

“The weather’s killer. The scenery too—just perfect.”

“Right? The sunshine’s great and the whole area’s so pretty—”

“No!!! Who said I care about that? I’m saying the base is going to melt perfectly in this heat!!!”

“Come on. You’re great at it anyway, director.”

Someone who had absolutely nothing to do with “humble” was standing there holding a portable fan.

“...Isn’t that Dok Gogyeol?”

“Yes....”

“Didn’t you say Yeoreum-ssi doesn’t have an agency?”

In this countryside village, wearing sunglasses with a shining luxury-logo frame, stood the No.1 makeup artist who only handled top-tier actors.

“Babe, isn’t that the filming team?”

“Director So~! PD Hwang! Hello~!!!”

It was Dok Gogyeol.