Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All

Chapter 137: Gangnam Boutique Hotel (2)

Upon arriving at the Gangnam Bless Hotel, known for being frequented by celebrities, the front desk staff and Kim Jong-Hoon's talent agent, Park Sang-Yong, were raising their voices in a heated exchange.

"What's going on here?"

Seeing Lee Seo-Jun enter, Park Sang-Yong rushed over with a flustered look.

"Mr. Lee!"

"Why are you still here? Where's Jong-Hoon?"

The talent agent replied with a troubled expression, "The front desk staff won't disclose his room number."

"What?"

The desk staff insisted that they couldn't reveal a guest's room number due to their privacy policy.

The furious Lee Seo-Jun approached the front desk.

"Welcome, Mr. Lee Seo-Jun."

Despite the heated situation, the front desk staff greeted him professionally.

"I guess there's no need to waste time since you know who I am. You need to tell me the room where our celebrity is staying. It's urgent."

But the front desk staff shook their heads even with Lee Seo-Jun's request.

"I'm sorry, sir. Our policy prevents us from disclosing room numbers to visitors not previously authorized by the guest. Even if you're the president, we..."

"This is so frustrating! Didn't you hear this is urgent!?"

The flustered Lee Seo-Jun lashed out in anger, which led him to completely forget about the documents he had prepared.

"Mr. Lee, don't you have the documents you prepared?" I reminded him.

Anticipating such a situation, I had hurriedly made a copy of Kim Jong-Hoon's contract from the legal team before coming here because the management contract contained clauses stating that the affiliated celebrities must disclose their location when requested by the company and also included provisions for delegating the disclosure of personal information.

"Right! I had that!"

Lee Seo-Jun hastily pulled out a copy of the contract and handed it to the desk staff.

"Miss, our legal team's team lead will be here soon. And don't worry about our celebrity suing your hotel for disclosing the room number. If you doubt my words, feel free to record this."

"Please give us one moment, Mr. Lee."

A senior desk staff member named Choi Yung-Ae checked the clauses on the contract copy.

"Understood. However, we will keep this copy for our records."

Choi Yung-Ae handed the contract copy to another staff member and came out with a master key.

"Please follow me."

We followed Choi Yung-Ae straight to the elevator.

***

Ding.

With 20 minutes left, the elevator reached the VIP-exclusive floor.

Choi Yung-Ae led the way and we followed her.

Click!

The moment the master key unlocked the door to room 701, the largest room at the end of the corridor, the startled Choi Yung-Ae covered her mouth with both hands and stepped back.

"Uh...uh."

When the startled Lee Seo-Jun pushed Choi Yung-Ae aside and entered, he immediately let out a sharp shout.

"J-Jong-Hoon! What, what are you doing!?"

I hurriedly followed Lee Seo-Jun inside.

Inside the room stood Kim Jong-Hoon on a chair, fiddling with a tangled nylon laundry line.

Lee Seo-Jun quickly pushed Kim Jong-Hoon in shock.

Thud.

Kim Jong-Hoon let go of the laundry line and fell to the floor. However, Kim Jong-Hoon made no sound of pain. He simply looked around bewildered with unfocused eyes, wondering why everyone was there.

Slap!

Lee Seo-Jun, who was rolling on the floor, abruptly stood up and fiercely slapped Jong-Hoon's cheek.

"You, you reckless fool!"

It was only natural for Lee Seo-Jun to be out of his mind seeing Kim Jong-Hoon attempting suicide because he had cherished Kim Jong-Hoon like his own child.

I consoled Choi Yung-Ae, who was trembling in shock.

Lee Dong-Min urgently restrained Lee Seo-Jun.

"Hyung! Please calm down!"

When Kim Jong-Hoon's talent agent, who was the last to enter, joined in to hold Lee Seo-Jun back, Lee Seo-Jun seemed to lose strength in his legs and collapsed on the spot after shaking Kim Jong-Hoon by the collar.

"Good grief!"

Looking like his soul had left his body, Kim Jong-Hoon silently watched Lee Dong-Min groan away.

Kim Jong-Hoon's talent agent shouted.

"Hey! Kim Jong-Hoon. Were you going to leave us like this!? What about Mr Lee and your family who live for you!? And what about me!?"

With tears streaming down his face, his talent agent lamented the pain of those who would be left behind if Kim Jong-Hoon had gone ahead with his plan.

That's when Kim Jong-Hoon, who had been sitting silently on the floor, finally let out all his pent-up feelings. "What about me?"

"What?"

"What am I supposed to do? I'm struggling! It feels like I can't even breathe!!"

Thud!

After his harsh resolve to end his life had gone to a failure, Kim Jong-Hoon helplessly knelt down.

"Aaaah!"

Kim Jong-Hoon's cries mixed with tears were so intense it almost caused tinnitus.

Hearing his painful cries, Lee Seo-Jun crawled on his knees towards Kim Jong-Hoon and embraced him.

"I'm sorry, Jong-Hoon. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

No matter how much Lee Seo-Jun repeated his apologies, it couldn't stop Kim Jong-Hoon's tears. Kim Jong-Hoon's heart-wrenching sobs echoed in the room for a while. But, as they say, even the mourning at a funeral doesn't last more than three days. Eventually, the exhausted Kim Jong-Hoon's cries began to subside.

***

Kim Jong-Hoon wiped away his tears and slowly got up.

"I'm sorry...Mr. Lee."

Lee Seo-Jun shook his head, indicating it wasn't Kim Jong-Hoon's fault. Then, he soothed Kim Jong-Hoon by caressing his face with both hands.

"No, it's not your fault. I'm sorry. So, let's not think like this anymore. Let's take a break. We'll cancel all schedules and go abroad for a while to rest, okay?"

Kim Jong-Hoon sighed deeply and nodded. "...Alright. I'll do that."

After much comforting and crying, it was soon past 6 p.m. Realizing the time Kim Jong-Hoon was supposed to have died had passed, I quietly opened my planner.

[Everyday V10]

[Date: June 10, 2020]

-08:00 a.m. <Deleted Schedule>

(Deleted Schedule: Gangnam Severance Hospital funeral hall. SJ Entertainment's Blit leader, Kim Jong-Hoon's suicide.)

The entry was deleted.

It seemed I wouldn't have to worry anymore today. However, the cause of Kim Jong-Hoon's depression hadn't disappeared yet. The root of Kim Jong-Hoon's depression was the loss felt from not achieving his high musical ideals.

Leaving someone as self-aware as Kim Jong-Hoon alone could lead to the same situation arising again. Fortunately, there were geniuses who could fill and surpass Kim Jong-Hoon's sense of loss by my side: Bang Seon-Woo, Jang Ye-Bin, Kang Ha-Na, and Park Seon-Nyeo.

I was confident that letting Kim Jong-Hoon mingle with them would more than dispel the crippling depression that bound him.

In the meantime, Lee Seo-Jun, who had ordered the talent agent to stick with Kim Jong-Hoon all day, approached me.

"Thank you, Assistant Manager Jung."

"It's nothing, Mr. Lee."

"No, if you hadn't been so assertive, who knows what would have happened...anyway, it's all thanks to you."

Lee Seo-Jun held my hand and repeatedly expressed his gratitude.

"Let's talk again once Jong-Hoon comes back to his senses. Let's cover up today's incident for now. How about that?"

"Don't worry, sir. But you should take care of that front desk staff who was quite shocked. If today's incident gets out, it might lead to more trouble."

"Don't worry about that part."

As Lee Seo-Jun nodded and was about to turn away, I brought up another matter.

"More than that, Mr. Lee. About our songs..."

"Songs?"

"Please play them for Mr. Jong-Hoon as soon as he's in a better state of mind. He needs some positivity and motivation right now."

Lee Seo-Jun nodded after a moment of consideration.

Since Kim Jong-Hoon's phone was dead, I transferred the five audio files to Lee Seo-Jun's phone instead.

"Did you receive them?"

"I did."

"Perfect. Then we'll be leaving now."

"Thank you for today. I'll make sure to repay this debt."

After shaking hands with Lee Seo-Jun, I headed to the underground parking lot where Lee Dong-Min was waiting.

***

Lee Dong-Min wiped the sweat off his brow in the passenger seat and let out a sigh.

"Phew. It's a good thing we came along."

"Indeed."

Lee Dong-Min couldn't hide his admiration. "Do you have some sort of prophetic powers or something?"

"Of course not, sir."

But Lee Dong-Min continued to make a fuss.

"No, you might not even realize it even if you had such abilities. Let's go buy a lottery ticket on our way back."

'So that was his intention, huh?'

"I saw a lottery shop on our way. It should be around here if we take the right turn. I'll give you the money, so buy one for you and one for me. If we win, let's agree to buy each other a car."

Come to think of it, I felt regret for the first time since traveling back in time. I had written down in my planner viewership ratings and the names of candidates who got first place in music shows. Unfortunately, I didn't bother writing down a single winning lottery number.

Feeling regretful for the first time because of Lee Dong-Min, I left the underground parking lot to buy the lottery tickets and headed back to the company.

But before we even arrived at the company, a call came in from Lee Seo-Jun.

-Assistant Manager Jung. Can we meet right now?

***

Music is the only drug recognized by law. For someone else, it might be a cure that washes away sad memories with a handful of tears.

But for Kim Jong-Hoon, music was always a source of pain. He set high standards for himself and tortured himself for not meeting them, which eventually sickened his soul to the point of considering suicide.

However, everything changed the moment he heard the music Lee Seo-Jun played to soothe him on the way to the hospital.

-Mr. Lee, please let me meet the person who created this song immediately!

Driven by Kim Jong-Hoon's earnest wish, Lee Seo-Jun turned the car around and headed not to the hospital but to our company.

We arrived at the underground parking lot first and parked the car.

Leaning against the car, Lee Dong-Min let out a deep sigh. "Ah, that damned music..."

"Have you ever felt like dying, Mr. Lee?"

Lee Dong-Min nodded. "Of course. Most composers have felt that way at some point."

"Even Seon-Woo?"

"Seon-Woo is not in that category. He's a genius composing machine. With an endless spring in his mind, he wouldn't have time to think about dying, unless he's frustrated because he can't bring out all the musical ideas he has."

"Hmm, makes sense. I suppose that could be the case with Seon-Woo."

"Leaving such monsters aside, most composers live in agony, but Jong-Hoon's case seems to be particularly severe."

Lee Dong-Min laughed bitterly, saying he even experienced auditory hallucinations.

"Auditory hallucinations? Come on, that's a bit much."

"Can't believe it, can you? I started hearing voices condemning me one day, saying my music was worse than trash rolling on the market floor. Imagine hearing that 24/7. It drives you crazy enough to want to die."

His distorted expression made it clear he wasn't joking. I was speechless after hearing such a shocking story from Lee Dong-Min.

"Now I can talk about it like this. But I'm surprised I didn't die back then. Phew."

"I'm glad you stayed strong."

Lee Dong-Min responded with a chuckle. "I'm kind of a social butterfly as you know. My family couldn't help much, but I felt strangely energized when I was with friends."

'Friends.'

My intention wasn't just to provide Kim Jong-Hoon with good music, but to also give him companions to walk the journey together. I was once again convinced that this was the remedy to completely free Kim Jong-Hoon from his depression. This had been my intended solution all along.

At that moment, Lee Seo-Jun's Maybach rolled into the underground parking lot.

Screech!

As the black Maybach came to a stop, the rear door swung open and the eager Kim Jong-Hoon rushed out.

"Are you Mr. Jung? Can I see the composer of the songs you gave me right away? I know this is sudden and might be inconvenient for you, but it's important to me!"

Kim Jong-Hoon grabbed my arm and pleaded.

Anyone with an ear for music would recognize the value of the songs I had presented. His eyes, long tormented by a sense of loss that gnawed away at his soul, seemed desperate as if he had found the key to solving his problems.

"Yes, of course. Please follow me."

As Lee Seo-Jun hurried to join us, Lee Dong-Min stepped in front of him.

"Where do you think you're going, hyung? Why don't you and I go have a coffee instead?"

Lee Seo-Jun was noticeably irritated.

"Hey! Do you think now's the time for coffee?"

"Oh, come on, old man! Let the young kids have their own chat. How do you run an entertainment business with so little tact?"

Lee Dong-Min held back Lee Seo-Jun and winked at me, signaling me to take care of Kim Jong-Hoon.

Soon, Lee Seo-Jun reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"Come on. Our company's coffee is exceptional, hyung."

"Stop dragging me. I'm going. I said I'm going!"

After the two left, I walked with Kim Jong-Hoon to the underground recording studio to eradicate the remaining causes of his depression.