Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All

[Team Lead Park In-Ki: Yoon-Ho, I'll make sure this works out no matter what. (cheering_emoji)]

Park In-Ki attached an emoji to his message, showing his determination to do his best. I could understand his excitement more than anyone else, so I sent him the same emoji and cheered him on.

[Team Lead Jung Yoon-Ho: Mr. Park, I have no doubt you'll do well with your experience. You got this, Mr. Park! (cheering_emoji)]

[Team Lead Park In-Ki: Thank you for believing in me.]

The next day, I heard that the meeting with Executive Director Lee Sang-Ryeol of KBC regarding Choi Eun-Ho's case was more serious than expected.

But it was said that Park In-Ki's performance was surprisingly outstanding. I heard that he said that Jang Jun-Hyuk, who used to be a key member of KBC's flagship variety show Wild Variety 48 Hours, was being mistreated.

On top of that, Jang Jun-Hyuk also protested that he never expected to be treated so poorly at KBC, his home at heart. Due to his effective protest, Kang Ji-Yung said she didn’t even have to do much to help.

Three days later, I received the result before anyone else.

[Everyday V10.1]

-10:00 p.m. <Schedule Deleted>

(Deleted Schedule: Meeting about CP Choi Eun-Ho. 6th floor conference room. (Report: KBC CP Choi Eun-Ho. Under investigation for embezzling production funds.))

'It's done,' I thought to myself.

Thirty minutes after the planner entry was deleted, Park In-Ki ran into the office with a big smile on his face, shouting, "Yoon-Ho, it's done!"

Park In-Ki was so happy that he was shouting with the joy of a child. He ran to me and hugged me out of nowhere. His body was radiating heat as if he had run all the way from the underground parking lot.

Park In-Ki looked at me and said sincerely, "Thank you, man."

"Don't mention it, Mr. Park. This was all thanks to your hard work," I responded with a smile.

I calmed the emotional Park In-Ki and asked him the most important question, "So, how much did you settle the appearance fee for?"

Park In-Ki smiled broadly and raised one finger on his right hand.

"100 million won?" I asked.

But he shook his head and raised two fingers on his left hand.

"120 million won?" I asked again.

"That's right!"

"Wow. That's amazing."

Park In-Ki explained he received additional payment for highlighting Jang Jun-Hyuk's contributions to KBC and quietly reporting Choi Eun-Ho's corruption.

That's when tears started to well up in Park In-Ki's eyes. He had been pushed around so much before that he once had bad thoughts—like siding with Actor Division 3 despite being part of Actor Division 2. But it seemed those worries were no longer necessary.

Then, Park In-Ki looked at me and paused for a few seconds before speaking. "Yoon-Ho."

"Yes?"

"It's been a long time since I had a drink. How about we have just one drink together today?"

Park In-Ki knew well that I didn't enjoy drinking. But I was also in the mood for drinking today because I wanted to congratulate Park In-Ki.

"Sure. Let's forget about the team today and drink together, just the two of us," I replied while nodding and smiling.

"Great. I'm treating you all the way till the end today! I got a bonus," Park In-Ki exclaimed happily.

Park In-Ki beamed with a smile as he told me he had never received such a high bonus of one million won.

Looking at him so happy, I also felt proud of making the right choice.

***

It was July 10th.

Despite the scorching summer weather, Yoo-Jin and Tae-Poong's filming went smoothly. Haru's shooting for Master of Mukbang started, and Kang Ha-Na's music video was also successfully completed.

However, there was still one remaining schedule in my planner that made me feel uneasy.

'It’s still not gone,' I thought.

[Everyday V10.1]

[Date: July 17, 2020]

-08:00 a.m. Gangbuk Samsung Hospital. Kang Eun-Gi's funeral.

All I knew was that Kang Eun-Gi was stabbed and died in the emergency room of Samsung Hospital late at night on July 15th in my past life.

Now there were only five days left until the 15th.

Since the schedule hadn’t been deleted yet, I called the number on the business card Kang Eun-Gi had given me last time.

-Who is it?

"It's me, Yoon-Ho."

At that moment, Kang Eun-Gi’s voice suddenly rose.

-What? Is this your number?

"Yes."

A delighted voice came from the other side.

-You're not going to change your number, right? I'm saving it on my phone.

"Do as you please."

But then I heard another familiar voice over the phone that was not Eun-Gi's.

-Oppa, who are you so happy to talk to? I thought I heard you say Yoon-Ho oppa’s name just now.

-N-no, you heard wrong. It's a call from the office.

As I heard Kang Eun-Gi and Lee Yeon-Sil bickering over the phone, I began to sink into my past memories.

***

Eight years ago—eighteen years ago, including the time before I traveled back in time—I had fallen into extreme confusion around the time I was about to graduate from high school. The university recommended by my boxing coach had informed me that they couldn't offer me a scholarship due to financial problems.

Taking a year off before going to university would not have been a problem for kids with parents supporting them. But for me, who had to leave the orphanage after graduating from high school, it was a declaration of the end of my life.

Sister Michaela suggested I stay with her for a year and try again, but I couldn't because the longer I stayed, the more I would take up the money that could be spent on the younger kids.

Moreover, Kang Eun-Gi's constant offers to join the organization led me to eventually give up on my dream and take the 3 million won support from the government to head to Seoul.

At the time, I thought I could manage to live a decent life if I worked hard with my healthy body. But the world was as simple as I thought. Not only was I scammed but I often didn't get paid properly.

Still, I gritted my teeth and endured. And after a couple of years, I could barely manage to make a living by making ends meet.

Then one day, Lee Yeon-Sil, who had just graduated high school, came to find me. I could still vividly remember her face waving at me with joy.

-I got a job at a small company in Seoul. But no matter how much I thought about it, you were the only person I knew who lived in Seoul.

Just like that, Lee Yeon-Sil ended up living on the floor above me in the same goshiwon. Just the fact that she, my sworn sister, was living in the same space, allowed me to shake off my loneliness.

Although I wasn't in a position to help her much due to my own tight situation, I could at least guide her so she wouldn't make the same mistakes I did. Meeting Lee Yeon-Sil again brought me back to my childhood days.

But as she adapted to life in Seoul and started saving money, Lee Yeon-Sil began envisioning her own future. She talked about buying a two-story house and living together with me. Not realizing this meant she wanted to share a future with me, I would joke that I would take the first floor and she the second.

However, the happy times were short-lived. We lost our jobs as the long-term recession began and our savings quickly dwindled. Without a solid foundation, we were shaken without a solid foundation and my anxiety grew each time our bank balance decreased.

It was excessive worry in hindsight, but at that time, I felt I had no one to rely on and believed I had to protect my only family member, Lee Yeon-Sil.

But that's when Lee Yeon-Sil confessed her feelings to me.

-I like you, oppa.

Lee Yeon-Sil suggested that we become a couple and support each other through tough times. But at that time, I couldn't afford to accept her confession.

-Are you out of your mind, Yeon-Sil? Dating when we have nothing? You need to wake up!

Despite my harsh reaction, Lee Yeon-Sil looked me straight in the eyes and insisted she liked me more than anyone else. She said she had liked me since the moment we first met and would no longer hide her feelings.

I was so shocked. The image of Lee Yeon-Sil boldly confessing to me that day remained vividly in my memory. After that day, she stopped holding back and began to express her feelings openly while I tried to ignore her emotions and focused on finding a job.

As those days continued, fate cruelly brought Kang Eun-Gi back into our lives.

-Yoon-Ho, I'm managing a club in Suwon. Let's meet often.

At first, I was glad to see him. Although I still had uneasy feelings about him choosing violence as a livelihood, seeing my friend who had grown up with me like a brother show up in a stylish suit and an expensive foreign car was nice.

It also relieved my burden knowing I had someone who would take care of Lee Yeon-Sil if anything happened to me.

As a few more months passed, Kang Eun-Gi visited our place whenever he had a day off. And as I found more stable jobs working three shifts a day, I finally began to find stability.

Then came the fateful day.

Lee Yeon-Sil and Kang Eun-Gi witnessed a female sunbae colleague of mine confessing her feelings for me while I was working part-time. Misunderstanding the situation, Lee Yeon-Sil distanced herself from me.

-Oppa, take good care of yourself even if I'm gone...health is an asset for people like us, you know?

-What's that supposed to mean?

-I'm going with Eun-Gi oppa.

Those were the last words she left me before moving out of the goshiwon room.

As pathetic as it sounds, it was only then that I realized I saw Lee Yeon-Sil as a woman. The emptiness and sadness were unbearable when I was left alone, but I gritted my teeth and endured the tough times.

The sadness gradually wore off as I focused on solving the problem of making a living. But a few months later, I heard a secret from the female sunbae colleague who had confessed to me—Kang Eun-Gi had brought Lee Yeon-Sil to my workplace multiple times, and he even encouraged the female sunbae to approach me romantically by giving her money.

It turned out that Kang Eun-Gi, who liked Lee Yeon-Sil, had schemed all this.

But the past was already behind us.

I buried the painful memories of my once-beloved brother and sister deep in my mind as my life was too harsh to dwell on painful memories.

But hearing Yeon-Sil's tearful voice, I realized that the painful scars had already faded a long time ago without a trace.

Lee Yeon-Sil's voice calling my name repeatedly over the phone brought me back from my past memories to reality.

***

-O-oppa. Is it really you, Yoon-Ho oppa?

"Hi. Have you been well?" I answered.

As soon as I answered, Lee Yeon-Sil burst into tears as if she were wailing.

-Oh, oppa. Sob, sob. I'm sorry.

My chest began to ache hearing her sobbing.

At that moment, Kang Eun-Gi took the phone with a low voice.

-Yoon-Ho, Yeon-Sil is crying too much. Let's talk later after she calms down.

But since the schedule about him hadn't been erased from my planner yet, I shouted urgently.

"No, it’ll be too late if we talk later. Eun-Gi, we need to meet up right now," I insisted.

-I'm sorry, but I don't have time. I need to go to the airport.

"What? Why the airport?" I questioned.

-What do you think? Of course it's business. One of our agency's actors is trying to enter the Chinese market, so I have to go on a business trip. I told you I’m clean now.

"Clean, my foot. You were still acting like a gangster the last time I saw you. Anyway, do you remember my previous warning?" I raised my voice.

There was a brief silence, then a more serious voice came from Kang Eun-Gi.

-About me getting stabbed?

"Yeah, that."

-I've already had a hard time dealing with that.

Kang Eun-Gi explained that he had met with the rival gang and made compensation and apologies for the past incident. But still, the schedule in my planner wasn’t disappearing.

I had to meet him to figure out a solution.

"Stop the nonsense and meet me right now," I demanded.

-I told you I don't have time. And don't worry. I had my guys clean up my past just in case. I'll be completely clean for the wedding. That’s my promise to Yeon-Sil.

I could still hear Yeon-Sil crying over the phone, begging to talk to me. She had reverted to her childhood self as she was crying and whining.

"Hey, if you’re so busy, let's meet at the airport!" I yelled.

-Sorry. I'll be back on the night of the 15th, so we can meet that day. You can hit me or kill me then. Do whatever you want. But I'm hanging up for now.

"Hey! Hey! Kang Eun-Gi!" I shouted over the call.

At the same time, the call ended abruptly. I tried calling again, but he didn’t answer.

'He's coming back on the night of the 15th?' I thought.

I yelled into the phone, "That's the night you die, you fucking idiot!"

I tried to call Yeon-Sil, but soon realized it was futile.

"Come to think of it, I don’t have her number..." I muttered under my breath.

Since we had cut off contact completely after that day, I didn’t have her number. I got a new phone a long time ago and Lee Yeon-Sil's phone number had also changed.

That's when a place came to mind.

"Mom!"

I immediately called Sister Michaela, whom I consider my mother.

Ristretto's Thoughts

Omg, so Jung Yoon-Ho did love Lee Yeon-Sil 😯

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