Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All

Miso ran up to me, wearing a white taekwondo uniform and a yellow belt.

I wondered why she was so excited, and it turned out it was because her name was embroidered on the yellow belt.

"Look, Uncle Yoon-Ho! The taekwondo master embroidered my name here! Isn't it pretty?"

The words "Jung Miso" were embroidered in pink overlock at the end of the yellow belt that Miso was holding. On the other side of the yellow belt, five characters from the Powertuff Girls were also embroidered in overlock.

Come to think of it, Miso had never worn her own uniform when learning taekwondo. When she learned it at kindergarten, she always borrowed a uniform and used a prepared belt.

I remembered that Miso didn't ask for a personal uniform and belt because she didn't want to burden her mom.

"Wow, it’s so cute~. Good for you, Miso," I replied with a grin.

When I reacted enthusiastically, Miso giggled. "Yes! I love it. And look at this too."

Miso turned around and pointed to her back where her name was also embroidered in pink overlock.

Jung Sang-Bong scratched his head and smiled when he saw Miso jumping up and down in excitement.

"Miso, you should thank the taekwondo master too," I reminded her.

"Oh, right! I was so eager to show you that I forgot."

The fact that she was so eager to show me her uniform and belt that she forgot to thank Jung Sang-Bong made me feel touched.

Miso turned to Jung Sang-Bong and bowed deeply. "Thank you so much, master!"

Jung Sang-Bong's smile was so wide it seemed it might split his mouth. "No problem, Miso. Let's keep working hard, alright?"

"Yes! I’ll go to the taekwondo center from now on too!"

"That's right. Don't skip any lessons."

Yoo-Jin also thanked Jung Sang-Bong before showing me her uniform proudly.

Yoo-Jin was wearing a white belt with "Jung Yoo-Jin" embroidered in pink on one side and "Cheongmyung" in blue on the other.

Thanks to Jung Sang-Bong’s thoughtful gesture, Yoo-Jin was also delighted. "Oppa. It's so pretty, isn't it?"

"It is. But you have a white belt, huh? Miso has a yellow belt. Ha ha!"[1]

Yoo-Jin looked at me when I teased her in a playful manner.

"Then what about you, oppa?" Yoo-Jin questioned me in return.

I quickly averted my gaze. I had tried various sports, but I had never learned taekwondo properly.

Others might get a dan[2] certificate during military service, but I didn’t have such a certificate as an orphan who didn’t even serve in the military.

"As you know, I wasn’t in a situation to attend a taekwondo lesson when I was young..." I said in an intentionally low tone.

I tried to create a melodramatic scene with fake tears, but I failed when they didn’t come out.

"So you have a white belt too, oppa," Yoo-Jin said nonchalantly.

Feeling embarrassed, I asked Jung Sang-Bong, "Sang-Bong, you should at least count me as a 1st dan. You know my real-life skills, don't you?"

Wearing his taekwondo uniform, Jung Sang-Bong shook his head firmly. "I'll give you a white belt, Mr. Jung."

'What a cold-hearted guy,' I remarked inwardly.

Jung Sang-Bong said that taekwondo valued etiquette and he couldn’t allow such exceptions and privileges.

In the meantime, Yoo-Jin and Miso brought me a white belt from somewhere.

Yoo-Jin continued to rub it in. "Oppa, you should do it with me. At least until you get a yellow belt like Miso."

The words "white belt" began to echo in my ears.

Miso also nodded beside me and tugged at my pants. "Uncle Yoon-Ho, do it with me!"

If Miso wanted it, I had to do it. Though my pride was a bit hurt, I felt much better when Miso herself wrapped the white belt around my waist.

"Done! Uncle Yoon-Ho is now a white belt too!" Miso exclaimed innocently with a smile.

'But Miso, you didn't have to confirm it like that,' I thought to myself.

I had come to teach Yoo-Jin some martial arts, but I ended up participating too.

"Okay, let's start with a greeting then."

Jung Sang-Bong stood in front of us and shouted energetically.

Yoo-Jin and Miso got into position and shouted loudly in the aerobics room.

"Taekwon!"

I stood crookedly and shouted weakly, "Taekkyon..."

Jung Sang-Bong glared at me as if saying he'd straighten me out. From that moment, I paid the price for joking around in front of a gold medalist.

"Ah! My legs! My legs are tearing apart...!" I cried out.

I never imagined stretching alone could feel like hell.

***

After stretching, there was a 30-minute training session to practice the kicking posture used in the drama.

Then it was my turn.

I held the mitts for Yoo-Jin.

"One-two, good. Whoosh, dodge, uppercut! We're not aiming for a competition, so don't worry about power. Just focus on form and position. Relax your shoulders!"

Yoo-Jin didn’t have much arm strength, but her accuracy in hitting the mitts and her reaction time were quite impressive.

Thanks to that, she showed quite decent form despite the short lesson time.

We moved on to boxing following the taekwondo practice. And before we knew it, an hour had passed.

"Okay, that's it for today."

"Huff, huff. I'm... dying..." cried Yoo-Jin who was panting and lying flat on the floor.

At that moment, Miso brought water from the dispenser. "Mom! Drink some water!"

Miso crouched and offered water, fanning her mom's forehead.

Although exhausted, Yoo-Jin managed to force herself to sit up. "Thank you, Miso..."

I encouraged the nearly-dead Yoo-Jin and took her to the shower room.

"Oppa, I think I could become an action star at this rate," said Yoo-Jin as she looked at me.

"Dream on. Even if your form is good, your stamina won't cut it," I said playfully.

Yoo-Jin simply ignored my words as she was too tired and mumbled to herself. "Come to think of it, I really liked Jackie Chan when I was young. Or was it Sammo Hung?"

'Uh, their appearances are entirely different though?' I thought to myself.

Anyway, thus ended a grueling day for Yoo-Jin who dreamed of becoming an action star.

***

The headquarters of LT Entertainment was located in Jamsil.

LT Entertainment was a subsidiary of LT Inc., the fifth-largest conglomerate in Korea, and the top film distributor in Korea handling Choi Sung-Moon's Beyond the Boundary.

Today, all stakeholders had gathered at LT Entertainment's video business headquarters for a meeting regarding the premiere and screening schedule.

Since competing films had postponed their releases to avoid Beyond the Boundary, everyone felt a significant burden lifted.

Upon arriving at the meeting room, Pyo Eun-Mi from Choi Sung-Moon Films, President Kim Moon-Dong from the investment firm KM Partners, and talent agents of the actors participating in the film were present.

While we were exchanging greetings, LT Entertainment’s President Shin Jong-Ki entered the meeting room.

"How has everyone been?"

"Good, Mr. Shin."

After greeting us, Shin Jong-Ki started the meeting right away.

"Alright. Let's begin with the schedule."

It felt more like a one-sided announcement rather than a meeting as this gathering was more of a courtesy.

"The blind screening is next week and the press screening is three weeks later on September 1st. The VIP screening is scheduled for September 24th."

Currently, Beyond the Boundary was 98% completed and filming would wrap up within the week.

After that, the distributor would hold various screenings to gauge public reaction to the footage.

The blind screening was also known as the 'secret' screening where an audience would be shown a rough cut of the film without any information on it before its official release.

Based on the feedback, the production and distribution teams would make necessary edits and improvements.

Shin Jong-Ki started making requests regarding the VIP screening involving celebrities. "We ask each actor to bring three celebrity acquaintances to the VIP screening."

However, they requested five from Hoop Entertainment.

"Mr. Gu, is it possible?"

Gu Seong-Cheol nodded willingly. "Since Tae-Poong is the lead, it's only natural we should prepare that much."

After answering, Gu Seong-Cheol looked at me. "What do you think? Is that okay with you?"

"Yes. We’ve already cleared Yoo-Jin, Miso, Haru, Kang Ha-Na, and Cherry Blossom's schedules for that day," I replied.

Shin Jong-Ki laughed heartily. "It looks like you're gathering all the popular people these days. How should I thank you for this favor?"

At that moment, Lee Chan-Dong, who was attending the meeting as the talent agent for Choi Yang-Seop, joined the conversation. "We will also have Yung-In and other A grade actors to support Yang-Seop."

"Oh, Ace Entertainment should naturally do that much. We have many projects together. Isn't that right, Mr. Lee?" Shin Jong-Ki replied.

Lee Chan-Dong chuckled. "Ha ha ha, that's true."

Amidst the lively laughter, the discussion about the VIP screening continued.

As the meeting was wrapping up, Team Lead Lee Eun-Joo mentioned something about Lee Tae-Poong.

"We plan to use the story of Mr. Tae-Poong's dyslexia as the main promotional material. Is that okay?"

"Yes. Overcoming dyslexia is nothing but a good story, right?" I responded.

"Then would it be possible to interview Mr. Tae-Poong's parents?" Lee Eun-Joo asked.

She said she wanted to promote it by tying in anecdotes from his childhood, which made everyone cautious.

However, I answered calmly, "Of course. Actually, we've already cleared his parents' schedules."

I had already anticipated this and contacted Lee Tae-Poong's parents two days ago. They had promised to make time for their son whenever needed.

Shin Jong-Ki looked pleased and spoke up. "Team Lead Jung has prepared everything from A to Z, cutting our work in half."

Lee Eun-Joo agreed. "For real. Thank you so much, Mr. Jung."

"Don't mention it. Also, Womans Magazine wants to feature a special article about Beyond the Boundary in their September issue. Are you interested?"

Shin Jong-Ki began laughing so loudly that the meeting room almost vibrated. "Looks like we should give the publicity budget to Team Lead Jung instead of the reporters! Ha ha ha."

Promotion and audience numbers were directly proportional. Thanks to that, everyone looked at me with favor.

Shin Jong-Ki said to me with a delighted expression, "Okay. Since Team Lead Jung is doing this much for us, I can't just stand by and let him do all the work. I'll allocate a generous publicity budget."

I bowed my head slightly. "Thank you, sir!"

"And Team Lead Jung, I will treat you properly if this movie succeeds. Look forward to it."

At that moment, I decided to seize this opportunity. "Instead of a treat, could I receive a role in LT’s next project?"

"Sure. Whether it's Miss Yoo-Jin or Mr. Tae-Poong, either is fine. Just say the word for any movie we are producing at LT."

LT Entertainment was not only a distributor but also a notable production company. However, the person I wanted to cast wasn't Yoo-Jin or Tae-Poong.

"Not those two, but could you cast Yoo Eun-Ah from Cherry Blossom as a supporting role?"

Shin Jong-Ki made a perplexed expression. After all, it was common knowledge in the industry that idols generally lacked acting skills.

"You want me to cast an idol? Ha ha, well..."

"She will appear as a supporting role in Master of Mukbang next week. You can check Eun-Ah's acting skills there."

After a moment of hesitation, Shin Jong-Ki asked again, "Are you confident in her acting?"

"I am."

"Then tell me which project you have in mind."

"Could she take on the role of Ye-Rim in Ballerina of Time that LT Entertainment is producing?"

Ballerina of Time would be Director Na Hyung-Joon’s low budget debut film, dealing with the success and struggles of Korean ballerinas.

LT Entertainment didn’t have high expectations for it, so the production and promotion budgets were minimal.

However, I knew how Ballerina of Time would perform well when it was taken down from theaters.

[Everyday V10.1]

[Date: February 25, 2021]

-01:00 p.m. Director Na Hyung-Joon's Ballerina of Time, Audience: 4.85 million. Screen Out.

Mentioning a project with low expectations brightened Shin Jong-Ki’s expression.

"For that project, there should be no problem. But can Eun-Ah do ballet? All cast members must be able to do ballet."

"Yes. She has been learning ballet since she was four. She also plays musical instruments too."

"That’s great. I need to have a final discussion with Director Na, but I’m okay with it."

Although the director’s approval was necessary, getting the production company’s approval meant overcoming the major hurdle.

After our conversation, Shin Jong-Ki smiled contentedly. "Wow, people keep talking about Team Lead Jung for a reason. You never miss an opportunity, do you? You're like a sniper, a real sniper."

"I'm sorry."

When I scratched my head, Shin Jong-Ki burst out laughing.

"It's a compliment, a compliment! If you can't seize an opportunity when it comes, there's nothing more foolish. Right?"

The nodding Shin Jong-Ki addressed everyone present. "Alright, let's aim for ten million viewers with Beyond the Boundary like Director Choi Sung-Moon's previous works."

The result of all Lee Tae-Poong’s hard work was finally about to step into the world.

***

As soon as the meeting ended, I received a call from Choi So-Hye.

-I've scheduled an interview with Executive Director Kim Ae-Ryeon. It's themed around leading women in business, so no one will be suspicious. I'll contact you again after the meeting!

"Be careful, Ms. Choi."

-Don't you worry. And don't forget the exclusive interview with Mr. Tae-Poong after this.

"Did…I make such a promise?"

At that moment, Choi So-Hye playfully threatened me.

-What's this? Should I cancel the appointment with Executive Director Kim Ae-Ryeon? Hmm?

I had drunk quite a lot and my memory was hazy, but I seemed to vaguely remember agreeing to something like that.

"Oh, n-no! I will definitely give you the exclusive article on Tae-Poong."

-Okay, then~. I have to interview some others who were at the club that day, so I’ll hang up now. Take care!

"Yes, ma'am."

After hanging up, Gu Seong-Cheol approached me. "Yoon-Ho, it seems like you'll have to go to Tae-Poong's set alone. Some issues have come up that I need to discuss further with Mr. Shin."

I nodded. "Yes, sir. Understood."

"Good. Go and boost his morale to your best ability."

Today was the last filming day for Lee Tae-Poong's Beyond the Boundary.

To lift Tae-Poong's spirit, I had arranged for lunch boxes and a coffee truck.

After Gu Seong-Cheol left with Shin Jong-Ki, Pyo Eun-Mi approached me.

But she had a somewhat mysterious smile on her face.

1. Yellow belt is higher than white belt ☜

2. level or stage in taekwondo ☜

Ristretto's Thoughts

"I had drunk quite a lot and my memory was hazy, but I seemed to vaguely remember agreeing to something like that." Lol, been there, done that.

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