Just as I was contemplating whether to go for the Golden Jjajangmyeon set or the Elephant Leg Jokbal set, I received a KkTalk message from Yoo-Jin.
[Lovely♡Yoo-Jin: Oppa. Did I make any mistakes yesterday?]
'Is she serious? Does she not remember anything? Don't tell me she blacked out after half a bottle of soju.'
I was dumbfounded but responded kindly to her message.
[Talent Agent Jung Yoon-Ho: I don't know whether or not I should call that a mistake. But everyone seemed to have had fun.]
[Lovely♡Yoo-Jin: W-what do you mean? What did I do? Tell me.]
[Talent Agent Jung Yoon-Ho: ? Do you actually not remember anything?]
[Lovely♡Yoo-Jin: I remember having fun. But I've had a little too much to drink and exceeded my limit…]
'Wow. I can't believe that she got that drunk only after half a bottle of soju. She deserves a thumbs up for that.'
[Lovely♡Yoo-Jin: Ah, seriously, oppa! Please tell me. Pretty please? I can't even practice for the audition because I'm so stressed that I can't remember anything about yesterday :'(]
Yoo-Jin continuously sent me the crying emoji.
'I guess I have no choice but to tell her.'
[Talent Agent Jung Yoon-Ho: (Attached file: Drunk Yoo-Jin. MPEG)]
Soon, Yoo-Jin sent me another KkTalk message.
[Lovely♡Yoo-Jin: No way. This is not me in the video. This can't be me. This is unbelievable!]
[Talent Agent Jung Yoon-Ho: Accept reality, Actress Jung Yoo-Jin.]
For a moment, Yoo-Jin sent many frustrated emojis. Then, she went on about how to apologize to all the staff.
[Talent Agent Jung Yoon-Ho: Don't worry about that part. All the staff loved it and had fun.]
Only after telling her that everyone had fun did Yoo-Jin relax. In the meantime, I sent Miso a message as well.
[Miso Angel♥: Uncle Yoon-Ho. When are you coming over again?]
[Talent Agent Jung Yoon-Ho: Hmm. Maybe tomorrow? I will see you when I go and pick Yoo-Jin up.]
[Miso Angel♥: Okay! I won't sleep and wait for you, Uncle Yoon-Ho!]
'Aww. What a sweet kid.'
I saw Miso every time I went to pick up Yoo-Jin, but Miso always told me she missed me. I never thought that having someone wait for me would give me so much joy.
'Thanks for making me feel this way, Miso.'
Making a fatherly smile, I sent a message to Miso.
[Talent Agent Jung Yoon-Ho: No, Miso. You need to sleep if you want to grow taller. Go to bed early, okay, Miso?]
[Miso Angel♥: Hmm, okay! Have a good night, Uncle Yoon-Ho! :)]
After saying good night to Miso, I opened the planner as I opened the Elephant Leg Jokbal set I ordered.
There were tons of tight schedules, pitfalls, things I could leverage, and situations I had to prevent.
"Yikes. It's all so daunting."
But internally, I thought that this was much better than being dead. I felt grateful for being sent back in time, being able to save someone, and being able to give Yoo-Jin the chance to have a better life.
"All right, Jung Yoon-Ho. Stay strong. Let's take this one step at a time."
But on 31st December 2019, the last day of the year, another incident was waiting for me.
***
[Everyday V10]
[Date: December 31, 2019]
-11:00 PM (Report) Industry's 3rd rank Louis Entertainment's final bankruptcy, 4th rank Stepping Stone Entertainment's final bankruptcy
At a time when the entertainment industry should have been bustling with various award ceremonies, the atmosphere was tense due to the bankruptcy of two major entertainment companies.
Gu Seong-Cheol stood up abruptly from his seat in the break room after watching the news on TV. With the fall of the 3rd and 4th ranked entertainment agencies, the ripple effects were bound to spread across the industry.
"Tell everyone to gather in the conference room," Gu Seong-Cheol said urgently.
Oh Deok-Gu picked up the phone at Gu Seong-Cheol's urgent voice. Within just five minutes, all the employees who were still at the company had assembled in the conference room.
Gu Seong-Cheol addressed the gathered employees with a serious expression. "I know everyone is busy with the preparations for today's award ceremony and I'm sorry to call you here during a time like this. Have you seen the news about the bankruptcies of Louis Entertainment and Stepping Stone Entertainment?"
"Yes, Mr. Gu."
"Alright. The productions and shows that the actors from those companies are involved in are going to be chaotic for a while. The on-site PDs will be on edge, so everyone, be careful."
"Yes, sir."
Actor Division 2 began to move efficiently at Gu Seong-Cheol's instruction. Gu Seong-Cheol then listed the actors who had a high chance of receiving awards at today's ceremony.
"Pay a bit more attention to the nominated ones. Make sure their hairstyles and costumes are top-notch if possible."
"Yes, Mr. Gu"
However, contrary to Gu Seong-Cheol's expectation, only one actor in Hoop Entertainment from Actor Division 1, Jo Min-Sung, would receive an award.
'We only had a bunch of nominees as far as I remember.'
Disappointed by this, Kang Gam-Chan would give the order to seize the opportunity to recruit the celebrities who had become available due to the bankruptcy of the two companies, hoping to have more award-winning actors next year.
The problem was that this situation allowed Kim Dong-Soo to rapidly expand the scale of Actor Division 3. What seemed like an opportunity to expand the company could actually become a crisis for Hoop Entertainment in the long run.
Being only in my first year, I wouldn't have the power to stop Kim Dong-Soo from gathering actors for his division. However, there was one person I had to bring to Actor Division 2 by any means necessary—Lee Tae-Poong, one of the members of Faithful. If Lee Tae-Poong got involved with Kim Dong-Soo, his life would be ruined.
"Alright, everyone. Let's move quickly. And Team Lead Park, keep checking the bankruptcy situation and keep us updated."
Park In-Ki of Actor Division 2 nodded. "Yes, Mr. Gu."
"Let's go, everyone."
Everyone left the meeting room in haste as soon as the short meeting was over.
Then, Gu Seong-Cheol let out a deep sigh and called me over.
"Yoon-Ho. How's Yoo-Jin's audition preparation going? What happened to the actress that the production company was pushing for?"
"Oh, the production company backed off when Ms. Kim Soll-Ip pushed for Yoo-Jin with a writer's recommendation. Yoo-Jin will have a solo audition for the role of Twilight."
Gu Seong-Cheol squinted and scanned me from head to toe.
"Why are you looking at me like that, Mr. Gu?"
"Hehe, it's nothing. I was just thinking how well you've grown. You've been preparing well for the auditions and taking good care of the actors. If Yoo-Jin gets the role this time, you might actually be promoted."
"Ah, you're giving me too much credit. Anyway, I'll go and help with the driving."
"Sounds good. Go and help Team Lead Ju out. I heard they are quite short-handed today."
"Yes, sir."
But just as I was about to leave the meeting room, I received a message from Kang Gam-Chan, requesting for me to go to the president's office right away.