Chereads / Novice Talent Agent Knows It All / Chapter 12 - CHAPTER 12

Chapter 12 - CHAPTER 12

Flash!

I let out a deep sigh of relief and checked the wefie we took.

But the moment I saw the photo, I burst out laughing.

Yoo-Jin was smiling with tears still in her eyes, Miso was smiling brightly holding a backbone in her right hand, and I was smiling with a twenty-six-year-old face. We all looked so happy.

'Yes. I won't ask for a lot. Please let me be happy just for today.'

That was when I heard the loud vibration of my phone and snapped out of my thoughts.

Brrrrr.

[Missed calls: 12]

[Caller: Kim Dong-Soo, Third Division Talent Chief]

'What does he want?'

But the moment I saw the pile of unread KokoTalk messages, I understood why Kim Dong-Soo had called so many times.

[Chief Kim Dong-Soo: Hey, where are you?]

[Chief Kim Dong-Soo: You punk! You were in Cheonho-dong earlier, right?]

[Chief Kim Dong-Soo: How dare you lie to me?]

[Chief Kim Dong-Soo: Come to the office now if you don't want to be fired!]

It seemed like the day's chaos wasn't over just yet.

***

I headed to my studio apartment in Jamsil with Yoo-Jin and Miso.

I thought about getting them a motel room, but I didn't feel comfortable leaving them in an unfamiliar place after the ordeal we had earlier.

Yoo-Jin, who was sitting in the backseat of my car, asked with a worried expression, "Oppa, are you okay? Chief Kim Dong-Soo sounded really mad."

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

I responded nonchalantly, but it was true that the situation had gotten a little messy. Just a moment ago, Lee Yung-Jin, my colleague, had sent me a video from the KBC 9 O'Clock Today's News featuring my interview.

[KBC 9 O'Clock Today's News - (Exclusive) Cheonho-dong Gas Explosion Control]

(Reporter) There was almost a massive gas explosion in Cheonho-dong this afternoon. Thanks to a brave citizen's report, the gas leak was quickly...

The thin mosaic covered my eyes as I requested for a censor, but anyone from our company would have easily recognized me.

'I can't believe that Jang Moon-Ki passed my photo to a broadcasting station, not his own newspaper.'

My brain was frozen, as if I'd just downed a whole bingsu.[2]

'I'll deal with you later, Jang Moon-Ki.'

At that moment, Yoo-Jin, who had been looking at me with a concerned expression, carefully opened her mouth.

"Oppa, you can just give us the keys and drop us off here since we know where you live. You should really rush to the office before they actually fire you."

The sincerity in Yoo-Jin's words almost made me tear up. But as a rookie talent agent who had traveled back in time, this wasn't a big deal to me.

"Don't worry. More importantly, Yoo-Jin—I did tell you that you can start your diet tomorrow, but keep in mind that you're a celebrity now. Once today's episode of The Morning Takes Off airs, people will start to recognize you on the streets. You have to start taking care of yourself. I saw you eating too much fried rice earlier, you need to cut down on carbs, okay?"

As I scolded her for eating three portions of the fried rice mixed with the backbone soup, Yoo-Jin covered her ears with both hands.

Ughhh. I can't hear you~ I'm not listening~."

"I know you can hear me."

"Geez. Always nagging people about losing weight. Do you really think that I'd become a star just by showing my face on TV once? That would make everyone in Korea a star. You know that's nonsense, right?"

Yoo-Jin was right. Realistically speaking, it was hard to become famous. But I knew better than anyone that Yoo-Jin could do it. Whether she wanted it or not, she was bound for stardom.

Then Miso, who was listening to our conversation from the side, offered me something in a shy manner. It was a pink glowing sticker about the size of two quarters combined.

"Uncle Yoon-Ho. This is my favorite sticker, but you can have it. Put this on before you leave."

Miso handed me her most cherished glow-in-the dark sticker. Taking a closer look, it was a character from a famous animation called Powertuff Girls.

"Thank you. But I feel like I'll be more cheered up if you stick it on my hand for me. What do you think?"

Miso carefully stuck the Powertuff Girl sticker on the back of my outstretched right hand with her tiny hands.

"Okay! Here you go!"

Tap, tap.

"Wow~. I feel so strong and energetic now!"

The bright pink light glowing in the dark was so vivid that I was slightly overwhelmed. However, I wasn't lying when I told Miso that I felt energetic.

Miso stretched her right hand above her head and shouted out loud after putting the sticker on my hand.

"Powertuff Girl! Give energy to Uncle Yoon-Ho!"

'Is this some kind of a cult chant?'

When the car stopped for a short moment, I started chanting with Miso.

"Powertuff!"

Following my lead, Yoo-Jun also stretched out her right hand over her head and shouted.

"Powertuff!"

After dropping off the two at my place, I headed straight to the company.

***

[Hoop Entertainment]

Having been established for ten years, Hoop Entertainment was a company ranked 7th in the industry. Hoop Entertainment was co-founded by the legendary Talent Agent Kang Gam-Chan—now the President— and Lee Ki-Chul, a talent agent who graduated from Seoul National University of the Arts.

The hands-on work was overseen by Kang Ji-Yung, Kang Gam-Chan's daughter. Many used to think that Kang Ji-Yung was merely privileged by her father's position. But it turned out that she was a competent individual who had previously worked at an entertainment company called K-Net, where she had raised the company's rank by ten.

Not only was she skilled in her work, but she also boasted strong connections with the presidents of the top three broadcasting stations at the young age of thirty-three. It was said that she was so close to them that she even had drinks with them sometimes.

Under her supervision were Actor Division 1, 2, and 3, and Singer Division 1 and 2. Actor Division 1 managed lead actors, while Actor Division 2, which I belonged to, mostly managed new or supporting actors and therefore had the weakest performance record.

The problematic Actor Division 3 was a recent addition created when Kim Dong-Soo, referred to as an ace ever since he first joined the company, was promoted to the Chief.

Actor Division 3 managed ten actors. All of them were famous stars, but each had controversial personalities that were often the subject of gossip.

And in about three years from now, using the name value of the stars in Actor Division 3, Kim Dong-Soo would attract external investments and absorb the primary foundation of Hoop Entertainment to establish his own company called Top Entertainment.

He was very likely trying to draw actors and staff to his side even at this moment.

But I planned to put a stop to that now.

With these thoughts in mind, I arrived at the company building in Apgujeong.

Du du~ Du du~ Du du du du~ Du.

Inside the company elevator, the background music from the famous movie Jaws was playing.

Ding!

The elevator chimed as I arrived at the sixth floor.

When I got out of the elevator, I could see the talent agents from Division 2 and Division 3 facing off near the conference room, growling at each other.

Na Kyu-Chul, the team lead of Division 3, spotted me first and said deridingly, "Look who's here. It's Star Jung."

'Star Jung?'

I was puzzled for a moment but soon realized that they were teasing me for appearing on TV even before the celebrity I managed.

"I thought you said you couldn't follow your superior's orders because you were too busy on set. But you somehow ended up on Cheonho-dong, huh? Have you gone mad or do you just not care about anything anymore?"

"Hey, Star Jung. You looked pretty good on screen. People might mistake you for a celebrity."

"Getting carried away after just a year in the industry, huh?"

When the staff from Actor Division 3 mocked me, Team Lead Oh Duk-Gu from Division 2, my immediate supervisor, came to my defense.

"Hey, enough is enough. Each of you have had your own major screw-ups before, remember?"

Ju Yung-Hoon, another team lead from Division 2, glared at Division 3 and yelled at them to mind their own business.

However, I didn't hate the nickname Star Jung too much.

'Did going back in time make me more optimistic?'

"I'll be heading in. Take care, everyone."

I politely lowered my head before the superiors and headed toward the noisy conference room.

It was time to meet Kim Dong-Soo.