I’m an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me - Chapter 42
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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 42
* * *
Director Gong looked at Yeoreum on the screen.
‘Her appearance definitely matches for sure.’
The Influencer 1 that Director Gong had roughly imagined was right there. Yeoreum, who was chatting cheerfully with her friend while driving carelessly, seemed unable to contain her laughter from joy.
“Hey. I’m seriously amazing. We followed each other back, you know? Uh~. With that person! Look at my follow list. Can you see it?”
A bright smile filled her face completely, then eventually she rolled her lips inward as if she thought she shouldn’t show how happy she was. Even so, the pride she couldn’t hide seeped through.
“Yeah~! Me? Huh… Of course~ I got it. The invitation! I’m different from those kids who fight over scraps for tables.”
That’s when it happened. They soon reached the situation right before the accident.
‘Here, naturally~.’
Just before the car came to a jerky stop. Yeoreum pulled down the sun visor. Then she checked her face in the mirror and said.
“I’m seriously going to take a photo at the traffic light and post it!”
Right on cue, the tow truck carrying Yeoreum came to a sudden stop.
“Ahh!!!”
Yeoreum hit her forehead on the steering wheel. At the same time, Director Gong shouted.
“…Cut!!!”
It was Yeoreum’s perfect ad-lib. The script only had this written:
Influencer 1: (While distracted) I’m different from those kids who fight over scraps for tables.
Yeoreum had implemented the direction to be distracted in detail. It was exactly the kind of behavior Influencer 1, who was obsessed with appearances and loved showing off, would do.
Through the lens, he could see Yeoreum making eye contact, wondering if her acting just now was okay.
“…One more time. Let’s do the same action.”
Director Gong wanted to see Yeoreum from just now one more time. Watching this perfectly alive Influencer 1 made his heart race.
It seemed like Part 2 kept coming to mind. A clue was faintly drawn. A new skill flickered and then eventually disappeared.
“Hey. That was an ad-lib just now, right?”
“…Yeah. Probably.”
Near the tow truck carrying the car Yeoreum was in, staff members were waiting. Watching the tow truck make a U-turn back to the original filming location, the staff said quietly.
“Good thing we revised the scenario.”
* * *
Yoon Hyeonjo, who played the lead role of elite Detective Yoon in , was having his hair styled by the coordinator while doing a final review of the scenario. His hair, neatly slicked back without a single stray strand, looked like a neurotic elite detective no matter who looked at him.
“Is the crease on my shirt here okay?”
“Yes, yes. Both sides are perfectly symmetrical!”
“Mm~. Thank you.”
This role was practically written with Yoon Hyeonjo in mind, Director Gong thought.
His obsessive-compulsive symptoms that wouldn’t tolerate even the slightest disorder, his plain features, and his calm voice with precise pronunciation. After checking his shirt collar one more time, Yoon Hyeonjo looked at the excited Director Gong and the rookie actress.
“Yeoreum! What were you thinking when you pulled down the sun visor earlier?”
“When the audience first sees Influencer 1, I wondered what kind of action would make them think ‘How can such a thoughtless person exist?'”
Director Gong’s excited laughter echoed throughout the filming set.
“That’s it! That’s it! Right! Exactly!!!”
Yoon Hyeonjo looked at Director Gong and thought for a moment.
‘Is that really something to be that happy about?’
Yoon Hyeonjo didn’t particularly like ad-libs. The more variables there were, the longer filming tended to take. He wanted to finish filming efficiently and quickly.
“Director~. Should I get in the car now?”
“Oh, oh. Yoon Hyeonjo! Let’s go right in.”
The next cut was the back-and-forth between elite Detective Yoon and Influencer 1. Staff members were creating smoke effects between the cars whose bumpers had collided.
Yoon Hyeonjo neatly adjusted his shirt collar and then got into the car.
‘If only it was at least as good as during script reading.’
Solo acting was one thing, but acting with two people wasn’t easy to coordinate. Especially with rookies.
They would stutter their lines in panic, fail to hold back laughter, and most basically, their breathing would be fast, making their words sound rushed.
‘How many NGs will there be~.’
As soon as he heard the director’s cue, Yoon Hyeonjo opened the car door.
It was a controlled gesture as if suppressing anger. Detective Yoon took wide steps and reached the car behind in just a few strides.
Knock knock-.
“Roll down your window.”
“…”
“I said roll down your window.”
At those words, the window very slowly rolled down. Influencer 1, peeking out with just her eyes, revealed herself.
“I’m sorry… Really. Sincerely. So very. Much. I’m sorry.”
A faint tremor was embedded in her rambling voice. Detective Yoon knocked on the window once more with a cold gaze.
“Not the window, open the door and get out.”
The moment he delivered that line, it was just an instant.
“Do I really have to get out? Your body seems really hurt or something. It doesn’t seem like a really big accident though?”
Tears welled up in Influencer 1’s eyes. As if she had barely held back her emotions during her apology just now. Confusion crossed Detective Yoon’s face.
“Do you have to die on the spot to get out? Get out when I tell you to.”
Sincerity was embedded in the somewhat absurd and ridiculous line. Director Gong’s excited cut signal was heard.
“That’s it! That’s it!”
The coordinator approached Yoon Hyeonjo to fix his slightly disheveled hairstyle. As he spread his legs to match the coordinator’s height while she combed his hair with a tail comb, Yoon Hyeonjo thought.
‘This is strange?’
After a few more short takes, that scene got an immediate okay. It was incredibly fast for coordinating with a rookie.
‘This is excessively efficient.’
Even when filming the next scene, Han Yeoreum didn’t cause any NGs.
She didn’t stutter her lines, didn’t burst into laughter, and didn’t mumble her pronunciation from being unable to control her breathing.
Detective Yoon’s gaze toward Han Yeoreum changed as they coordinated.
* * *
“Yeoreum! Have dinner before you go!”
Movie filming continued almost all day. After stopping by the shop at dawn and commuting to the set, then doing one blocking rehearsal and filming a few scenes, half the day had already passed. I quickly nodded to the director.
‘Now that all the tension is gone, I’m starving to death.’
Since I had a simple lunch on set, my stomach had been quietly rumbling for a while now. The director called me along with the assistant director, script supervisor, and several other staff members. The external filming team had already dispersed among themselves.
“Are you coming too, Hyeonjo?”
“…Should I not go~?”
“No, no. It’s not that. It’s just unexpected. Hyeonjo, you don’t attend company dinners. You’re someone who only attends wrap parties because they’re inefficient, so what’s this about?”
Even at this time, Yoon Hyeonjo quietly followed along in his perfectly set appearance.
We headed to a nearby izakaya. A few customers who recognized Yoon Hyeonjo whispered among themselves. Yoon Hyeonjo, as if accustomed to this, said to the director.
“I’ll have cider~.”
…She doesn’t seem to care. If someone recognized me, I’d probably whip out a pen immediately and ask where they’d like me to sign.
‘That’s the attitude of a seasoned celebrity.’
As we settled into the private room at the izakaya, dishes began arriving in succession—apparently they’d been contacted in advance. I eagerly ate whatever Director Gong placed in front of me.
‘Even rolled omelets taste different when you eat them at expensive places…’
The taste was truly moving. I’ll have to eat a lot of this once I make good money later.
As I worked my chopsticks non-stop, Director Gong poured me cider and asked.
“That’s right, Miss Yeoreum, it must be difficult getting around alone without an agency, right?”
Director Gong asked me a question. Recalling the times when no matter how much I struggled from the bottom, it was hard to even get a single line, the answer came out immediately.
“No. It’s not difficult at all. Really!”
Director Gong laughed at my answer, while Detective Yoon looked at me as if he knew it was a lie.
‘It’s true though. There’s no way something like this would be difficult.’
Compared to when I worked as an extra—gathering at dawn in Yeouido or Sinsa and departing from there, standing by all night only to appear for 3 seconds as a laughing, chattering extra—this is nothing.
“I heard Jegal Rok is keeping an eye on Miss Yeoreum. Did you know?”
“Hahaha… I don’t really know much about it myself.”
“Right. I don’t usually say things like this, but…”
Director Gong gave me serious advice.
“No matter what conditions other places offer, don’t go. Wait for the head of Jegal Rok.”
I had heard about Jegal Rok here and there. He was enough of a legend that even aspiring actors like me were somewhat familiar with the name. But hearing it from an industry insider carried a completely different weight.
‘The fact that such a Jegal Rok is watching me…’
It brought an indescribable sense of achievement. I hadn’t drunk a drop of alcohol, but I felt like I might get drunk on the adrenaline rushing up from the back of my neck.
Knock knock-.
Just then, a polite knocking sound came from outside.
“Director, thank you for calling me.”
The person who opened the izakaya door and entered was Myeong Jeha. As if the affectionate threat he’d made over the phone a few days ago never happened, he came in with his usual cheerful, smiling face. Then he sat down next to me.
“Oh, you came quickly. You know Hyeonjo too, right? Jeha.”
“Of course. Didn’t they say you two were school classmates?”
“Yes. Senior. How do you do. I’m Myeong Jeha.”
Myeong Jeha, who respectfully received the drink Director Gong offered, seemed like a stranger. He was unnaturally natural at dealing with superiors.
‘Why did he come?’
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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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