I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

“Yeoreum-ssi! What was that? Where did you learn to lift a suitcase that naturally!”

“Did you... travel a lot?”

PD Hwang and Director So praised me, saying it felt so realistic.

‘It’s from my convenience-store logistics part-time job experience.’

Travel, my foot. Half of what built my slice-of-life acting was Coupang, half was the convenience store.

But what did any of that matter. They liked it, so that was enough.

Thinking that, I accepted the bottle of ice water PD Hwang handed me and drank.

“The feeling just now was really good.... It really showed how exhausted Yeondu was. It felt real.”

Starting with Director So’s feedback, the life of Jung Yeondu—the one who had wandered all the way here one day—began filling the frame.

* * *

“...Maybe now I can... rest a little....”

Yeoreum shuffled toward the sofa. That stiff posture unique to someone who always carries tension stood out clearly.

Even the way she collapsed—plop—onto it contained fatigue. Even alone in the space, Yeoreum didn’t stretch out her body or relax her shoulders.

A house with nothing but furniture, not even cushions yet—looked exactly like Yeondu’s life. A life barely held together, just enough to look like living.

“Cut!”

The usually quiet So Yesol’s voice grew louder and louder. Each time she called cut, it became clear how full of certainty she was.

‘Understandable.’

PD Hwang was impressed once again. The Jung Yeondu that Han Yeoreum had shown during the meeting and script reading was good, but she must have researched even more since then—now she simply was Jung Yeondu.

High tension, overly sensitive, but unwilling to show it easily in front of others, a person whose brain never stops churning.

‘That’s just a scene of lying on a sofa, though.’

Yeoreum didn’t lie down. She sat, then only folded her upper body forward. Her feet in indoor slippers stayed planted flat on the ground, firm, as if even the act of fully lying down was something she wouldn’t allow herself.

“Okay! Let’s change the angle and go again—!”

Director So called out, and the cameras around Yeoreum began moving. They were switching to a close-up of her face. Amid the brief noise, a shutter sound could be heard.

Click-! Click-!

Director Dok Gogyeol’s cousin had been holding a camera since earlier, pressing the shutter every time she found a spare moment.

Since Yeoreum didn’t have an agency, it seemed like she was taking pictures to upload on SNS.

‘Diligent. How admirable.’

Holding his ice water, PD Hwang approached the tiny cousin of Dok Gogyeol. As he looked at the monitor with her from behind—

“...Um, excuse me, this.”

PD Hwang couldn’t help speaking.

“Could we use some of these as our still cuts? Actually—posters too would be great!”

Inside the frame capturing that moment, Jung Yeondu was living and breathing.

* * *

The first shoot wrapped smoothly. It was weather befitting mid-June. Even at 7 p.m., the sky was still bright. A small barbecue party began in the yard of the filming site.

“Yeoreum-ssi.... Don’t grill the meat.... You worked so hard all day.”

“Yeah! Give the tongs to us! Sit and eat, eat.”

I shook my head at Director So and PD Hwang.

‘I worked at barbecue restaurants for years.’

This kind of thing should be done by someone who’s good at it.

And if I wanted to get used to the scenes starting tomorrow, I needed to loosen my body through some labor like this.

‘The scenes where I have to do whatever the village residents ask me to do.’

A process of setting both body and mind into a natural errand-runner mode, so to speak.

Pop-!

A flash blinded my eyes for a second. It was Dok Gomin taking photos of me intermittently. Her timing with the flash—she really knew things.

‘How does she know flash photography becomes popular in a few years.’

Someone with a different aesthetic sense can do anything. Watching her, PD Hwang exclaimed:

“Director-nim. Your cousin is really just a student? What sense. Wow.... She’s practically a cinematographer.”

“Angyeong-ayo. Eongeieayo.”

“...Sorry? What did she say....”

“She said, ‘Of course. Because she’s a genius.’ I think.”

While busily eating meat, Dok Gogyeol answered absentmindedly. Director So, holding a lettuce leaf, had ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) a determined look on her face.

“After seeing those still cuts... I’m certain. The Yeondu I wanted is right here.... That kind of feeling....”

Geniuses in one place seemed to inspire each other. Mm. Good. As expected of Dok Gomin. The best senior.

“I never expected to feel this way on the very first shoot, but still... Yeoreum-ssi is my muse....”

In the middle of Director So’s wistful reflection, Dok Gomin barged in.

“What are you talking about? She’s my muse. From the first moment we met I knew—Han Yeoreum was exactly Dok Gomin’s muse. Yes yes. This is muse pickpocketing.”

But Director So didn’t even blink.

“Where’s the logic in that.... The one who produces better results gets the claim....”

“I already produced results, though? That profile picture floating around as her portfolio—I took that. Didn’t you see my genius shine?”

“Still.... That’s just SNS, and my work goes on public broadcast.... A much wider audience will see it.... Isn’t that ‘better results’...?”

My chest swelled. Two geniuses were fighting... over me.

‘Please don’t fight because of me.’

Is this what it feels like to be the protagonist of the grand universe? Even before regression, Dok Gomin had never called anyone her muse.

It made me feel a little good.

“Who decides what’s a good result? Yes yes? Shouldn’t you ask the person involved?”

“She’s right here... she’ll just answer like soothing a crying child... instead of speaking her true feelings....”

Savage. Director So was quietly beating the life out of Gomin with her words. As expected from someone hardened in the broadcasting field.

“Excuse me. I’m not like those people who chase around this muse or that muse. In fact! Even when Do Gyeoul! Herself! Tried to hire me first!!! I turned! Her down!!!”

At Gomin’s words, I was horrified.

“What!!! Do Gyeoul!!!”

My shock must have seemed like taking her side, because Gomin looked up at me with a proud expression.

“Yes. That Do Gyeoul.”

Then, for some reason looking shy, she continued:

“Because, my muse is....”

“If you only work with one person... doesn’t it kind of... rely on the other person’s fame too much...?”

At that moment, Director So calmly cut Gomin off.

“Me? I rely on someone? Yes yes? Me?”

“Well, yes.... If you work only with Yeoreum-ssi, then ‘Dok Gomin’ as an individual ends up with a... lacking? portfolio.... And it's harder for the public to clearly recognize your individual identity, too....”

But Director So, Do Gyeoul or not, didn’t even flinch and landed another counterpunch.

“By working with various people and properly infusing your own identity into Yeoreum-ssi, that’s what makes you qualified to use the word muse. If you only work with one person, it’s hard to be recognized as having a muse....”

Gomin was momentarily speechless. Director So calmly said everything she needed to say.

“If you work with famous Do Gyeoul, people might forget all the work you did with Yeoreum-ssi and only remember ‘Dok Gomin’s Do Gyeoul.’ So you preemptively? ran away? Is that it? A bit lacking in confidence...? Or maybe you have realistic awareness....”

“...Th-this person. What is with this person. Yeoreum-ah. You got the wrong one. This director is weird.”

“Yeoreum-ssi. Even if I work with other actors... I’ll make sure everyone can still recognize that Han Yeoreum is So Yesol’s muse.... Because I am... MBS’s top recruit, and among my peers... the first to debut as a director.”

Gomin lost. From the start, So Yesol was not someone she could win against. Dok Gomin trembled, while Director So calmly chomped her lettuce.

‘But good.’

The more famous Dok Gomin became, the more I would shine.

Because the one who secured the position of Dok Gomin’s muse over every famous actor was Han Yeoreum.

Gomin’s eyes glinted—she clearly wanted to crush Director So. I already knew those eyes. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

‘She’s been properly inspired.’

At the filming site of , I had a strong gut feeling that my third life-shot would be born.

Maybe my public-broadcast debut would draw more attention than I expected.