I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

“No more sunshine man and indifferent woman!!! That’s old news nowww!!! We’re going back to the classics!!! The timeless flavor passed down through generations!!! Sunshine woman and indifferent mannnn!!!”

* * *

In the dark room, Gyeoul stared at Han Yeoreum on the screen.

More precisely, she stared at Lee Seohae.

—I need to finish this within a week. Headquarters has already approved my deployment.

Two weeks had passed since ended.

Yet even after the finale aired, it didn’t feel like anything had ended.

Gyeoul replayed everything over and over in her head.

Innate nature.

Essence.

Foundation.

Those words kept surfacing, leaving her dizzy.

The words felt sharp.

Like they were scraping away at her brain.

“Where did it start?”

Do Gyeoul murmured as she watched Lee Seohae.

When exactly had things gone wrong?

Where?

The headache intensified because she couldn’t understand.

The moment the finale ratings were released, Gyeoul had been forced to admit something.

She still didn’t understand the limits of what the world was willing to accept.

Han Yeoreum was accepted.

Do Gyeoul was not.

That fact forced her to obsessively chew over the same thoughts again and again.

Innate nature.

Essence.

Foundation.

As if those words contained the answer to where everything had begun to unravel.

—There are only ten days left until the welfare bill vote. At this rate, the legislation will fail.

The Lee Seohae on the screen was a performance she had watched so many times she had memorized it.

If asked to perform it right now, she could do so effortlessly.

The gaze.

The breathing.

The dialogue.

The movements.

She knew all of it.

“It’s fake....”

And yet it was fake.

Kang Yeseul was the real one.

Han Yeoreum’s Lee Seohae was fake.

Yet people were obsessed with the fake version.

Even though Kang Yeseul had clearly possessed greater depth.

“You don’t even know that.”

A crack was beginning to spread through the source of Gyeoul’s long-standing pleasure.

For the most part, Do Gyeoul’s life was boring.

Occasionally enjoyable.

Being proven right.

Being acknowledged as a genius.

Climbing higher and higher.

Standing above the crowd.

Receiving trophies.

Everything else was the same.

Except for Han Yeoreum.

Ever since the day she first met that girl, the time that followed had made her forget all the boredom she had accumulated throughout her life.

Those brief days.

Not even a quarter of her life.

“...But that’s still fake.”

Gyeoul gripped the remote and repeatedly hit the fast-forward button.

Every time Lee Seohae appeared on the screen, it felt as though she were being dragged back to the day they first met.

The Shining Star of DaeYeJong.

That title, once dominated by Do Gyeoul’s name, was slowly being taken away.

Because Han Yeoreum had chased her like a madwoman.

Because Myeong Jeha had claimed the top spot in an instant.

—It is believed to be Main Character Syndrome.

Lee Seohae spoke as though she were speaking directly to her.

You are not the protagonist.

—It refers to the phenomenon of believing yourself to be the center of the world, where every event revolves around you. It is characterized by narcissism, emotional overinvestment, and narrative self-dramatization.

She had spent her entire life in an industry that measured people’s value.

She could tell immediately.

Do Gyeoul’s value had already fallen below Han Yeoreum’s.

“....”

That should never have happened.

No matter the country, people always said female-led projects attracted less investment.

But what if the market itself was fiercely loyal?

“Manager.”

Gyeoul picked up her phone.

“I’m going to do a film.”

—Oh? Gyeoul? You’re choosing your next project already? Honestly, nobody works harder than you. So? Did you find something interesting among the scripts?

“The one you mentioned last time.”

And what if investors looking for something new were flooding into the industry?

“The Korea-Japan co-production.”

The walls of Chungmuro were high and solid.

But Do Gyeoul had already broken through those walls once as a child.

As the genius girl.

Not as an extra.

As the lead.

“I’ll do it.”

* * *

[Han Yohan and Han Yeoreum at the Script Reading... Insane Chemistry]