I'm an Unknown Actress, But Everyone Knows Me

[Unfair Trade ⎢Now it’s a fight over whether Gam Seonghwan or the police chief’s son gets the doll T_T]

[Unfair Trade ⎢Isn’t it possible the DNA analyst could tamper with it too?]

[Unfair Trade ⎢It was all foreshadowing from episode 1, the trophy-keeping killer and the juvenile offender]

[Unfair Trade ⎢Feels like Unfair Trade is the only drama airing right now LOLOL]

, which wrapped last week, ended pitifully with a lowest rating of 3.4%. Its follow-up drew little attention. The same went for the drama that followed .

It felt as if was the only drama currently airing, monopolizing all buzz.

[Shin Seojin・Han Yeoreum, from gentle second lead and first love in to detective and sociopath... “perfect acting transformation” success]

[Han Yeoreum, a versatile actress who showed various charms through , already building anticipation for next project ‘NetHolics’]

[Shin Seojin proves star power as sole lead... delivers a powerful hit with ]

In the end, Gam Seonghwan succeeded in obtaining the doll the police chief’s son had sent for repair. Unlike before, it neither cried nor laughed—just a silent doll. Carefully, he pulled it into his arms once.

As if it were his dead younger sister.

—Fuck, I’m crying TT__TT

—Seonghwan... ah, Seonghwan

—What is Kill Jaeyoung, is he close with Ja Sokhwan or something? This guy isn’t normal either

↳ Yeah, Kill Jaeyoung is famous for having a great personality and wide connections... T_T

↳ No wonder, that’s insane

And so, the final episode of .

The retired police chief desperately tried to bribe the DNA analysis unit, but failed. Thanks to the current chief, who was determined to uproot the past.

The manipulated time of death. The misdirected investigation. The sloppy initial records.

Everything was finally set right.

—Breaking news. The true perpetrator of the 1996 residential murder case has been identified. The individual is the bereaved family member and currently active violent crimes detective...

Gam Seonghwan did not fumble for handcuffs in his jacket.

Silently, he reached in and took out the cold metal cuffs.

Before him stood a man with his head lowered—

someone he once believed was family, who had loved his son in the wrong way.

“...I have no face to show you....”

The squad leader he had followed, calling him uncle.

The man, with patchy beard growth, extended his wrists.

Click.

Without hesitation, Gam Seonghwan fastened the gleaming silver handcuffs around them.

—The government has announced that following this case, it will reopen investigations into previously unsolved cases that may have been concealed.

The detective Gam Seonghwan, who once smiled proudly after catching criminals, now seemed as if he no longer existed in this world.

* * *

“No, seriously. More than anything, I’m just so grateful to you, Seojin....”

“Thank you, thank you. It was really great.”

This was a restaurant near the broadcasting station, where the final episode of was playing. Inside, it was lively and loud. As expected of a work that held both number one ratings and buzz, the atmosphere was warm.

“Aww, no one’s even watching the TV.”

Director Park picked up a soju bottle to pour himself a drink, but Shin Seojin smoothly took it and filled the empty glass instead.

“It’s because we’re sad, sad it’s over!”

Shin Seojin’s solo portion had been a brutal schedule. He was in nearly every scene, to the point where the B-unit had little to do. Even sleep was scarce as he pushed through the remaining four episodes.

Yet even under such extreme conditions, he never once showed irritation. The mood on set is shaped by the lead actors—whether everyone bonds by criticizing the actor, or whether the actor becomes part of the bond.

was the latter.

“I want one too....”

“Of course! Come a little closer. No, that’s too far, right there!”

Han Yeoreum was already surrounded by staff, taking selfies with everyone. Watching her, ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) Director Park smiled quietly.

‘How did someone like that play Lee Seohae... and so perfectly?’

Han Yeoreum truly was Lee Seohae.

“But Director, what if we tweak just one line?”

“Oh? Which line?”

A way of thinking only Lee Seohae could have.

Han Yeoreum fully understood it.

Lee Seohae, who had been unconscious, finally wakes up. Gam Seonghwan hesitates briefly outside her hospital room, then takes a deep breath.

Click.

The sound of the door opening felt awkward. The two faced each other after a long time, silence settling between them.

“I’m not afraid of dying. I’m afraid of becoming useless. That line, instead of like this....”

In the original script, Gam Seonghwan throws the line at her bluntly.

Seonghwan: (frowning, voice rising) Were you out of your mind trying to die? Do you even know how many days it’s been?

Seohae: I’m not afraid of dying. I’m afraid of becoming useless.

Gam Seonghwan carries complicated feelings toward Lee Seohae. Guilt that she was dragged into the incident because of him, guilt that her recovery will take time, and above all, shame that he let someone younger than him sacrifice herself.

But Lee Seohae tells him—

Everything, even death, was within her own judgment, so he doesn’t need to feel any of that.

She had lived without purpose. Without attachment, without dreams. In that life, she simply noticed Gam Seonghwan.

Even her interest in him was her own choice. It was nothing he needed to concern himself with.

“Regarding the arrest.”

But Han Yeoreum’s version of Lee Seohae said this—

“Did you succeed?”

With the face of a goal-oriented, efficient IQ 160 genius investigator.

“....”

Gam Seonghwan looked down at her in the hospital gown. After a long moment, he nodded.

“Then go. You have somewhere else to be, don’t you?”

Lee Seohae didn’t say she was okay, didn’t thank him for coming, didn’t say it was good, didn’t acknowledge his hardship.

She simply pushed him forward with her words.

“....”

Gam Seonghwan stood there in silence, then finally turned his back.

His face was rigid as he walked alone down the hospital corridor.

And the place he arrived at—

—No, don’t

— TT___TT

—Please... please don’t do this

—Fine, let’s all die then

The photo that had hung on his wall in Episode 1 appeared again. That family photo was now inside a case holding urns.

Inside the small compartment were the three family members—without Gam Seonghwan.

He looked at the photo and spoke.

“Dad, I’m here.”

He swallowed hard after those words, as if forcing something burning down with it.

“Mom....”

His eyes slowly reddened.

“Seongeun, ah....”

His shoulders trembled as he called each of them.

“Your brother... caught him.”

The words he had wanted to say for so long finally came out.

“I caught him. Mom, Dad....”

The tears he had held back broke free.

“It’s too late....”

Hot tears fell from his chin.

“But... but I still caught him....”

Leaning his forehead against the compartment holding his family, he cried like a child.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry... it took too long... Seongeun, but your brother caught him... Seongeun...!”

But his family said nothing.

* * *

Gam Seonghwan sat behind the wheel, staring blankly ahead. His eyes were empty.

There was no longer a purpose in his life. His chest felt twisted.

He glanced at a truck passing by on the opposite lane.

—What the fuck

—No, not this

—?????????? Seonghwan wait???

—Is this what I think it is

—No no no no absolutely not

Just as he was about to turn the wheel—

Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz.

His phone rang.

—Senior, I’m really sorry. I know you’re not coming in today... but there’s someone here who insists on seeing you. I think you really need to come.

“Tell them I’m not coming.”

—I know, but... just once. Please?

Frowning, he hung up.

He paused for a moment.

Then turned the wheel.

“Senior! Over here!”

The eagle emblem on the police station no longer shone the way it used to. Gam Seonghwan could never return to who he was before.

He would no longer be righteous, no longer smile, no longer burn with passion.

But.

“....”

“Detective, I’m sorry. I heard you were on leave today, but the old man just wouldn’t let it go....”

The one who had come to see him was an old man.

Thin and frail, sitting in a wheelchair pushed by a social worker. His hands completely curled.

“After regaining consciousness and staying in the hospital, his cognitive ability improved a lot. He’s been receiving donations, volunteers come by... they talk about you. He may not understand everything, but he knows you’re someone to be grateful to.”

It was the old man from the trash-filled house in Episode 1—the one who would have been blamed for everything if not for Gam Seonghwan.

“Yesterday during a walk, we told him he’d soon undergo skin graft surgery and wouldn’t be able to go out for a while. But he kept insisting he had to meet the police officer.”

His hands were still wrapped in burn bandages.

With trembling fingers, he reached out and grabbed Gam Seonghwan’s hand.

“Tha...nk you....”

With barely any teeth left, unable to pronounce properly, he said it again.

“Tha...nk you....”

Gam Seonghwan stood frozen.

The social worker bowed repeatedly in gratitude as she wheeled the old man away.

“Se... Senior.”

“....”

Gam Seonghwan looked around the station once.

Then walked back outside.

The world was bright.

Sunlight poured down.

Children got off a yellow kindergarten bus, chatting as they held their mothers’ hands. Students in uniforms ran past, laughing. A middle-aged woman on the phone sounded irritated.

The world he had tried to protect all this time—

was peaceful.

“Peekaboo!”

A little girl, about his sister’s age, smiled at him.

At last, a small smile appeared on Gam Seonghwan’s face.

The world he tried to protect was dirtier, more petty, more vile than he had imagined.

But—

maybe that was exactly why it needed protecting.

Watching the little girl wave at him, he waved back.

Then, out of habit, he reached inside his coat.

Click.

The handcuffs were still there.

As if the flame of justice in his chest had not yet gone out.

Bang!

The biggest hit of the third quarter, the drama of the year, and the work that rewrote the history of the genre—

had come to an end.