I’m an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me - Chapter 148

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 148

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seolbaekhwa, that was precious alcohol strictly controlled by law.

 

There were conditions to drink Seolbaekhwa: first, one must be a nobleman; second, one must hold an official position. No matter how much money one had, it was alcohol that couldn’t be drunk freely.

 

“There’s no way such precious alcohol would exist in a mountain valley like this. I apologize.”

 

“But there is?”

 

That’s why every man wanted to taste Seolbaekhwa at least once. It was like proof that one was among the chosen males.

 

The alcohol drunk while drawing a clear line showing one was different from the lowborn was incomparable to anything else.

 

Sweet, dreamy, and fragrant.

 

“Before Janghwa and Hongryeon died, how many bottles of Seolbaekhwa must have been emptied at this giru…”

 

Seoryeong’s face, smirking as if she knew everything, held clear mockery. Seoryeong’s voice echoed through the quiet giru.

 

“Right. If you want to tell lies, I should pretend to be fooled.”

 

Seoryeong generously joked with Hwayeong sitting beside her as if being affectionate. Along with that, the past from just a few hours ago was recalled.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“What are you doing right now? This is far too conspicuous.”

 

“Mmm-. I want to stand out-. I’ll take this one too! No no, one of each color!”

 

Seoryeong, who bought anything that caught her eye, hummed and ignored Myeongdo.

 

She wondered what amazing things were in the bundle. From gold ingots to jewels and silk, all sorts of things were inside.

 

Seoryeong, who exchanged those for money, spent money like water.

 

“Mm, this one’s nice.”

 

“Young master has a good eye! It came from across the water, so the price is a bit high.”

 

“Right? Good good, what’s the price?”

 

Myeongdo frowned at the merchant who held up five fingers.

 

“This won’t do anymore. Wait a moment.”

 

Myeongdo, who bowed his head slightly to Seoryeong as if asking for understanding, immediately grabbed her by the nape despite his polite posture.

 

“Hey! You crazy bastard! Hey! Let go of this! Let go!”

 

Seoryeong, who was dragged along dangling, could only be free in a secluded place. Seoryeong jumped up and down in place, furious.

 

“I’m spending my own money! What’s it to you! This is so annoying I could die!”

 

“…It’s at least three times the proper price.”

 

“What?!”

 

“Do you even know the fair price?”

 

At those words, Seoryeong’s mouth fell open.

 

“I may not have an aesthetic eye for finding beautiful things, but I have an excellent eye for distinguishing fakes from genuine items. I’ve been involved in investigations for a long time to punish fraud. That’s not something from across the water. It was made here in Yeomho Kingdom.”

 

Myeongdo sighed while holding his forehead.

 

“Distributing and selling silk and other precious luxury goods at unfair prices isn’t something that started yesterday… Since you’re acting like easy money to take advantage of, the merchants can’t help themselves.”

 

At Myeongdo’s calm answer, Seoryeong threw a fit.

 

“These crazy bastards! I, I’ve always bought things at these prices!”

 

“You’ve been filling merchants’ bellies all this time. By the way, that jade ring you just bought for five times the price. That’s also fake.”

 

Seoryeong, whose head barely reached his chest, had such good footwork that every time she jumped around, she became about the same height as him.

 

“If you understand, shall we go back now? Since we need to buy things at fair prices, we’ll have to demand all the money back.”

 

At Myeongdo’s words, Seoryeong firmly grabbed the hem of his dopo.

 

“No… the deed is already done. The money I spent is regrettable, but I can make it back by getting revenge later. That much is nothing. It’s my fault, my fault. It’s because I’m so prettily born, so I have to accept it. It’s wrong to be beautiful in a way that’s not tough and ignorant of worldly affairs…”

 

Though somewhat lacking in conscience, Seoryeong calmly gritted her teeth.

 

“Then we can go straight to the giru now. Word will spread quickly that a sucker has entered the village.”

 

“Giru? Why would we…”

 

“Didn’t you hear yesterday? There was a flower scent.”

 

Seoryeong was sharp, unlike someone who had just been swindled by a merchant. The quiet sound of a flute began to play.

 

“Right now, it’s still before the flowers properly bloom. So when Janghwa and Hongryeon died, it would have been hard for even a blade of grass to survive. Then where did that flower scent come from?”

 

At Seoryeong’s deduction, Myeongdo’s gaze sharpened.

 

“Face powder and sandalwood scent.”

 

“Correct. And one more thing.”

 

Seoryeong turned her head. Toward the distant place where Cheonmaekji’s government office was located.

 

“Seolbaekhwa. Alcohol scent lingers more strongly than perfume.”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The scene returned to the present again. The sound of a flute, as if secretly plotting, continued to be heard.

 

“What are you doing? Stopping the performance… the taste of alcohol is really falling flat.”

 

“I apologize.”

 

With trembling hands, the girl tried to continue her performance. The geomungo sound was terrible. At the slow melody, Seoryeong took out a hair ornament from her bosom.

 

“Here, payment for the performance.”

 

Then she tossed it in front of the girl. Seoryeong, who had been giggling, now jingled the purse on the table playfully.

 

“Keep your hands moving and smile diligently. This is payment for your smile.”

 

At the clear mockery, the hand plucking the gayageum strings trembled with shame. Even trying to force the corners of her mouth up wasn’t easy.

 

She was still at an age where her heart hadn’t grown callused.

 

“Not enough? Here. Then here, this too. Your smile is quite expensive.”

 

Seoryeong kept tossing money. Hwayeong grabbed Seoryeong’s hand.

 

“My lord, please don’t do that. May I perform a song instead? She’s still young and doesn’t know how to handle the strings properly.”

 

A painted-on smile floated on Hwayeong’s face. Seoryeong slowly stroked Hwayeong’s hand with her thumb. Along with the teasing, harassing touch, she spoke to Hwayeong.

 

“You’re quick to understand your place. Right. You’re courtesans, so you should smile when told to smile and cry when told to cry.”

 

Hwayeong maintained her smile even at Seoryeong’s sarcasm. Because Seoryeong was right.

 

“You’re angry inside, aren’t you? Rage is boiling up, isn’t it? But what can you do? Just staying still is your job.”

 

Because they weren’t the same people, just flowers.

 

“Will you live your whole life like a powerless flower?”

 

Seoryeong pressed down hard with the thumb that had been fondling her hand.

 

“When the girls you cherished die one by one, then what? Will you still smile like this then? Enduring and getting through everything?”

 

Her fingernail dug into Hwayeong’s skin.

 

“As if you saw nothing and heard nothing? Will you live like that?”

 

Hwayeong’s smile slowly faded. The coquettish look in her eyes changed.

 

“After Janghwa and Hongryeon, whose turn will it be next? Try thinking about it.”

 

With a bored expression, she opened her mouth.

 

“Why have you come to this Cheonmaekji?”

 

“You don’t ask questions. I do.”

 

Seoryeong finally let go of Hwayeong’s hand.

 

“If I could prevent anyone from plucking flowers anymore, would you follow me?”

 

Hwayeong looked at the girl playing the geomungo. Then she moved her throat and swallowed something down.

 

Swallowing sorrow, swallowing shame, swallowing filth, swallowing hatred, swallowing fear, swallowing loneliness – her insides had been burning black for a long time.

 

In this place Cheonmaekji where clear water flowed, Hwayeong’s countless emotions had stagnated and rotted.

 

The more that happened, the more beautifully Hwayeong bloomed. Yes. They were courtesans.

 

“…I will do so.”

 

But truly beautiful flowers always contained poison.

 

The geomungo strings, on the verge of snapping, rang precariously. Episode 3 of ended.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“Our broadcasting station’s enemy….”

 

This was MBS’s Drama Center. Today too, the Center Director was shedding tears.

 

SBC’s ultra-luxurious drama, TVM’s super popular drama. So what were the remaining two broadcasting stations doing?

 

“Seoryeong-!”

 

That’s right. They were smoothly plummeting downward.

 

The heart of the MBS Drama Center Director, maintaining single-digit ratings, was torn to shreds.

 

Of course, the drama currently airing on MBS had its own viewers and fanbase too.

 

Let’s learn about MBS drama , which was competing against and .

 

 

 

[MBS truly holiday-like bland taste, records 6.5% ratings…]

 

 

 

…Let’s stop learning about it.

 

“But wait, Center Director….”

 

The one who firmly placed a hand on the wailing MBS Center Director’s shoulder was So Yesol, this era’s healing director.

 

“Currently, the name Seoryeong doesn’t appear in episodes 1 and 2 of ….”

 

So Yesol was sharp. The Center Director’s shoulders trembled for a moment.

 

“You read… the synopsis…?”

 

If he had read even the synopsis, the Center Director had definitely watched episode 1 in its entirety. So Yesol said to the other PDs around.

 

“…Deal with this person….”

 

“Wait! No! You must know your enemy and know yourself-!!!”

 

The Center Director was dragged away somewhere. Hearing those screams, So Yesol lightly sighed while checking the reaction to episode 3.

 

The mention volume for had noticeably increased. By next week, articles titled ‘Strange Tales Syndrome’ would likely be uploaded frequently.

 

“Anyway… this is really trouble….”

 

What kind of scenario would she need to write to bring Han Yeoreum over? It wasn’t hard to predict that once finished airing its final episode, a battle for Han Yeoreum would break out.

 

“Come to think of it, KBC will soon announce their 50th anniversary founding special drama….”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“Hey, this is really well made.”

 

This was the editing room. The man watching on screen together with Director Gong was impressed.

 

“No, if you’ve watched it all now… quickly tell me about , senior. Quickly. How entertaining it is, how well you think it’ll do at the box office, why you think so.”

 

Today too, the timid Director Gong was hoping for his agreement.

 

However, the man who ignored his words had already turned on his phone.

 

“Look at this reaction.”

 

 

 

ScreenDaze (Drama Circle) @ScreenDaze

 

Guys trust me this is a stock that’ll work it’s going going hold on tight

 

Retweets 3K Likes 5.2K

 

No, it’s not a fake listing. There’s a guy next to Seoryeong who’s as big as a door.

 

Tsk… if you look at it blurry, Hwayeong, Seolyeong, and Soyeong form a perfect triangle

 

How blurry do I need to see it?

 

 

 

“They really cleverly captured the early viewers well. Both the direction and the story.”

 

This person was a legend in the drama world who had succeeded with several long-form dramas.

 

Director Ja Seokhwan, rumored to make every work like a movie. He was particularly good at handling modern historical periods, and was a master who basically started with 30% ratings.

 

“Hey, give me one of your VIP preview seats tomorrow. I want to go!”

 

“Senior. Please listen to what I’m saying…. No, didn’t you say you were busy and came today….”

 

“I need to have a conversation with her! Let me in!”

 

“Why are you so immature, really…. I’m talking right now, in front of you!”

 

“Perfect. I was thinking who would be good for Korea’s Daisy… This pathos! This pitifulness! The provocation subtly mixed in! Plus the acting skills are usable, usable. First candidate. Okay.”

 

Director Ja fell into his own world. Director Ja, who was directing the upcoming KBC founding special drama , had been searching for the protagonist of an equally impactful role, though not the main character.

 

Buzz-. Buzz-. Buzz-.

 

Director Ja’s phone kept ringing. It was the Casting Director.

 

“Hey! Good timing! I was about to call you too!”

 

Director Ja shouted in an excited state. The Casting Director on the other end of the line also yelled.

 

-Director! The investors recommended someone for Yeonhuijae’s child role.

 

“Oh, who is it?”

 

-Good at Japanese, decent acting, and the investors are backing her….

 

“So who is it!”

 

-Gi Juye. The youngest daughter from .

 

Hearing the Casting Director’s words, Director Ja laughed while patting Director Gong’s shoulder repeatedly.

 

“Ah, her? Yeah yeah. Let’s meet and talk. Oh, where am I right now….”

 

Director Ja just abandoned Director Gong and left. Director Gong, left alone and forlorn, whimpered.

 

“She needs to appear in 2 too….”

 

What if later Yeoreum becomes too famous and won’t appear in works by a 3-million-viewer movie director like himself? Director Gong’s sigh was deep, filled with such worries and concerns.

 

Now with only 3 weeks left until ‘s official release date. Tomorrow was the day the VIP preview would open.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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