I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

“No~. It’s not that I called you over. I’m telling you to sit o~ver there.”

So he hadn’t called me. There wasn’t a separate chair anyway, and once the injury makeup was done we had to go back into the shoot, so I’d been standing there awkwardly. I sat down in the corner of the sofa Yun Hyeonjo pointed at.

“How was my acting earlier?”

At the izakaya, it felt like he’d dropped honorifics for a moment. Maybe he was the type who got shy around people—he’d gone back to polite speech again. I answered without fuss.

“You were awesome. As expected of Yun Hyeonjo. The best action actor.”

“If Hyeonjo’s the best, then what am I?!”

From far away, the sunbae playing Detective Kwak shouted at the top of his lungs. The set filled with laughter. Because everything was proceeding smoothly, the 분위기 was extremely good. The making camera was rolling too.

“Then... then I’ll say sunbae is the best too...!”

“What is that~. If there are two ‘bests,’ then you have to take out the word ‘best,’ you know.”

At Yun Hyeonjo’s words, I flailed my hands awkwardly and ducked my head.

‘It’d be nice if they could use this as content—Han Yeoreum getting teased between two top sunbaes.’

The making camera had already disappeared toward the gang members, who were working hard on their injury makeup.

I had to continue the Yun Hyeonjo praise time that had been briefly cut off. Because he was staring straight at me like he was waiting to hear if I had anything else to say.

“So I also want to do action someday. Thanks to you sunbaes, I’m learning a lot on set. Awesome!”

Yun Hyeonjo, who’d finished his simple injury makeup, stood up from his seat. From far away, I could hear someone calling to get Yun Hyeonjo’s making interview.

“You’re already good. You climbed into the real-time trending videos.”

“You even know it trended?”

Yun Hyeonjo. You are the best sunbae of this era. To take interest in your hoobae like this....

It’s definitely not because Yun Hyeonjo is the only one on this set who knows my ASMR video hit real-time trending. Not at all. He’s just the correct, wise type who’s going to make it big.

“Forget what I said last time.”

“What did you say?”

“The part where I said I don’t know if you’re better than Do Gyeoul.”

How could I forget. Back then, Yun Hyeonjo, you were a zero-star sunbae to me. The soda I drank that day is still bitter.

“If Do Gyeoul feels like there’s a wall.... then you, hoobae, what should I call it... it feels like you’re tearing down walls? You have something like that.”

Yun Hyeonjo nodded toward it, as if telling me to sit on his chair instead of the sofa, and tapped it lightly.

“And from the standpoint of acting together~. The latter is way better. Yeah... I didn’t realize it either.”

And then Yun Hyeonjo turned his back and walked away.

I watched Yun Hyeonjo’s back for a moment, then carefully sat down on the chair. It was sturdy, and you could adjust the angle.

Once I’d decided I was going to get my name back, it felt like the number of things I wanted was increasing without end.

‘Someday... will I be able to put my own chair on set too?’

I wanted to make my place. In the middle of the filming set, on the movie theater screen, on Chungmuro’s film street—everywhere my eyes could reach, I wanted myself to exist.

I kept getting greedy. The desire to do a little better, a little better, swelled fiercely and only grew.

* * *

[Would you like to recommend?]

Click-.

Do Gyeoul pressed the ‘Yes’ button. On the monitor, Winter’s SNS photo and Han Yeoreum’s awards-ceremony photo were placed side by side.

Daily Media. Winter knew it as a newspaper company she’d done interviews with from time to time as well.

As Do Gyeoul skimmed down the article, she smiled, narrowing her eyes.

[★Photo/ “Same clothes, different vibe” Do Gyeoul–Han Yeoreum dress analysis]

They’re the same clothes, but the styling photos of famous child actress Do Gyeoul and the rising rookie, rising star Han Yeoreum, are a hot topic for the different vibes they each pull off. Wearing a vintage black dress from brand C made in the 1980s, the two captured attention with different charms. Do Gyeoul with a classic look....

“As expected....”

Normally, articles like this focused on the “pushed” side. And Do Gyeoul had always been the side that got emphasized more. The background she had, the position she’d built up, and lastly her skill supported it.

“Interesting....”

But at both Daily Media and Ruel, they put their weight on Han Yeoreum. Both were places that were practically unmatched at picking out celebrities who were going to make it.

“How did you... end up catching the eye of places this sensitive.”

This kind of experience ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) felt unfamiliar. Exactly as Winter’s impression said, things were turning out 재미있게.

Half of her heart raced with anticipation about how far Han Yeoreum would climb, and the other half with the impulse to watch Yeoreum struggle and thrash around, unable to reach Do Gyeoul.

Click- click- click-.

Winter’s monitoring didn’t end. Winter, who’d barely searched her own name a few times at most, was now looking up Han Yeoreum’s name like it was a habit.

‘Just a rookie who shot one web drama.’

Han Yeoreum, with no agency, was winning over reporters and the public by her own strength. In an industry where celebrities lived by image-making built from the blood and sweat of agency staff, that kind of type was rare.

‘At least, as far as I remember... there wasn’t a single one.’

Winter recalled Yeoreum at the Ruel Style Awards. The face that went up onto the stage, held a worthless trophy, and met her gaze straight on. Those raw emotions that oddly surfaced for a brief moment.

“Still, it’s not enough....”

Click-.

With one click, she shut down all the layered screens at once. On the blacked-out screen, Winter’s angel-like face reflected back.

“Yeoreum should stay Yeoreum.”

She couldn’t dare be placed side by side with Do Gyeoul’s name. After ending her monitoring, Winter picked up her phone and contacted her agency.

“Team Manager, when does our article start uploading?”

-Oh, Gyeoul! It’ll start today at 3 p.m.

“I want to book an interview too.”

-Interview? Sure, that’s great. Where should we do it! It’s the first time you’ve been this proactive, so nothing comes to mind right away.

No matter how huge Intube’s influence was, the opponent was terrestrial broadcasting. Winter wanted to show Yeoreum what real mainstream reach was.

If Yeoreum saw her standing at a different awards ceremony—one that Ruel Style Awards couldn’t even compare to. She felt like she might be able to read something new.

“Daily Media.”

Winter wanted to learn an emotion she’d never felt before: frustration.

With Yeoreum’s expression, her gestures, her voice.

“I want to do it with Reporter Wi Jaehwi.”

If she absorbed Yeoreum’s things one by one like that, maybe someday she could escape that exhausting evaluation from her father.

That damn evaluation that said she couldn’t understand people’s emotions.

[Finally twenty, “I’ve been waiting for this day” Do Gyeoul takes on a classic romance]

[From child actress to adult... Do Gyeoul breaks her hiatus, cast as the heroine of ]

[Netizens smile warmly at Do Gyeoul’s beautiful growth: “She grew up so well~”]

News of Do Gyeoul’s terrestrial broadcast drama began taking over the entertainment news rankings the instant it uploaded.

* * *

“It’s done....”

This was the MBS drama department. With dark circles deeply carved under her eyes, So Yesol watched the footage she’d stared at to the point of nausea over the past few weeks, and once again took it in.

“It’s done....”

The rough cut was barely finished, but even this alone was complete enough.

No matter how many times she watched it, she didn’t get sick of it. From the gray city to the village thick with green.

So Yesol had packed everything she wanted into this one-episode drama, pressing it in tight.

Click-.

Pressing the space bar again to play the video, So Yesol looked at Yeoreum inside the monitor.

‘Even though I haven’t put in music yet....’

The only reason it didn’t feel empty was Han Yeoreum’s voice. Jung Yeondu—dripping with sighs and irritation—could carry the drama by her very existence alone.

‘Where did she learn this.’

That voice, the one the sound team had made a huge fuss over again and again.

So Yesol tried to gauge how much higher the completeness would rise once she layered an OST onto this video. From calm, static music to music that captured the bustling village hall as-is.

‘It’s still a draft stage, but—. It was already a good enough OST.’

The finished video was already vivid before her eyes. Director So prepared to refine the footage again. Since the broadcast date had been set, she was going to edit it step by step to match that time—

And then, at that moment—

Bang-!

The editing room door flew open in a rush. The music director, panting for breath, looked at Director So with trembling eyes.

“Why... are you looking at me with such an ominous gaze....”

“Director So, something big happened.”