Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All

Chapter 159: Everyday (1)

I was promoted to assistant manager within my first year, and now, in my second year, I had taken on the role of team lead.

Although an entire calendar year had passed, it essentially only took me four months to be promoted to team lead. Despite the anticipated opposition from the Suhyaejong line, Kang Ji-Yung was nothing but confident.

"The team lead appointment will be issued in three days, just so you know," Kang Ji-Yung said.

"What are you going to do about Mr. Lee Gi-Cheol's side?" I asked.

"I'll handle that," Gu Seong-Cheol said.

He encouraged me with a more serious expression than usual, saying this was just the beginning.

"It won't be easy. I'll support you as much as I can, but you'll be responsible for your team's operations from now on..." Gu Seong-Cheong added.

Then we discussed the Jung Team I would be in charge of.

"After discussing with Mr. Gu, we've decided that the Jung Team will need special management."

The Jung Team was tasked with the management of both actors and singers. However, Cherry Blossom was to be co-managed with the current team lead, Han Myung-Ho.

Gu Seong-Cheol looked worried, perhaps because he was concerned about me suddenly managing so many employees and actors with little experience.

"Are you sure you got this, Yoon-Ho?" Gu Seong-Cheol asked with a concerned expression.

Gu Seong-Cheol didn't know how capable I was. But in my past life, I was the one who managed the top stars of Top Entertainment and filled in for Kim Dong-Soo, who only attended entertainment events.

Starting as an assistant manager and climbing up to vice president, the internal power struggles and battles with rival companies I faced could easily fill more than ten books.

I flashed a confident smile at Gu Seong-Cheol.

"Don't worry, Mr. Gu."

Kang Ji-Yung smiled and chided Gu Seong-Cheol. "Mr. Gu, don't tell me you don't trust Mr. Yoon-Ho?"

"Of course I do. I am well aware that he's sharp with his work. But the scope of the job is broad and mistakes are bound to happen. And when they do, the Suhyaejong line will be ready to pounce on him."

I grinned and retorted, "I'd like to see them try. They'll just wear out their own teeth."

Gu Seong-Cheol playfully raised his fist. "Hey, don't just brush it off. I'm serious here."

I sarcastically took a step back in a playful response. Seeing Gu Seong-Cheol's smile, I thought about how important giving good reactions were in social interactions.

Then we moved on to discussing team member composition.

Currently, I managed four actors: Yoo-Jin, Miso, Lee Tae-Poong, and Haru.

With Lee Dae-Ho and Jung Sang-Bong already on board as actors' talent agents, we were able to add one more assistant manager to the team.

On the singer's side, we needed to hire a new assistant manager and a junior staff member from scratch. Hearing this, I immediately requested for Assistant Manager Eun Ji-Yoo from Singer Division 1.

With Golden Road on hiatus, it was the perfect time to bring her over.

I voiced my opinion, "I'd like to bring Assistant Manager Eun from Singer Division 1 to the Jung Team."

"Assistant Manager Eun, as in Miss Eun Ji-Yoo from Singer Division 1?" Kang Ji-Yung asked.

"Yes," I replied.

Kang Ji-Yung nodded. "Alright. We'll make the transfer if she agrees."

We decided to hire a stylist later and focus on finalizing the rough outline of the team for now.

I thanked Kang Ji-Yung with a smile, "Thank you so much, Ms. Kang."

As the meeting continued, we discussed accommodation options for Haru. Similar to other major entertainment companies, Hoop Entertainment not only provided accommodations for minors coming from the provinces but also acted as their legal guardians.

Since I was acting as Haru's guardian, it was only natural we lived together.

I thought for a moment and said, "I'd prefer to find an accommodation near Yoo-Jin's place. Being far away could make it inconvenient to manage her schedules."

"Hm. That area is cheaper, so we might be able to get a bigger place," Gu Seong-Cheol replied.

Gu Seong-Cheol said a three-room apartment would be fine and instructed me to choose the place myself.

"Understood. And Ms. Kang, some apples will be delivered to the company soon. Please share them with the staff," I informed Kang Ji-Yung.

"A box of apples?"

"Yes, Sae-Ri's grandfather said he would send about 50 boxes of quality Fuji apples."

Kang Ji-Yung's eyes widened in surprise. "Fifty boxes of apples? Do you know how expensive apples are these days? How could we accept so many?"

"I tried to refuse but there was no stopping him. He said he had to get rid of the extra apples anyway."

Sae-Ri's family owned an orchard so expansive that their land and orchards stretched as far as the eye could see.

Gu Seong-Cheol made a lighthearted comment. "You've brought back both apples and people from the apple orchard."

I responded to Gu Seong-Cheol's comment with a light smile.

"I'll be taking my leave then," I replied.

As I was about to leave, Kang Ji-Yung stopped me and brought up something unexpected.

"Ah, before you go out, have a talk with Mr. Jung Soo-Hyuk. He will be of great help in handling various matters in the future."

Curious, I asked, "The Finance Director...? Why?"

Kang Ji-Yung simply smiled mysteriously and said, "You'll see once you meet him."

***

Entertainment companies and private investigation agencies were inseparable.

They constantly and secretly formed relationships with detective agencies for background checks on entertainers they wished to sign. Sometimes, they even used them as a connection to entertainment newspapers looking to release scandals.

The problem was that the loose lips of detective agency personnel could be risky, so large entertainment companies often operated their own intelligence teams to investigate important matters on their own.

However, Hoop Entertainment had no official intelligence team.

But the truth was that Kang Gam-Chan was secretly running one under the management of Finance Director Jung Soo-Hyuk.

"What are you doing? Your tea is getting cold. Drink up," Jung Soo-Hyuk said to me.

I asked Jung Soo-Hyuk with a dazed expression, "Why does nobody know about this side of your job, Mr. Jung?"

Jung Soo-Hyuk responded with a slight smile. "What do you think my job entails?"

"Managing finances...Oh!" I exclaimed as I came to a sudden realization.

Jung Soo-Hyuk explained that he was running an independent intelligence team using a slush fund.

I was pleasantly surprised. "That's impressive. Managing both finance and intelligence."

"Ha ha ha. You're the one who's impressive here. It's rare for someone to catch on just from that, especially someone as young as you."

Feeling a bit embarrassed, I scratched my head.

Jung Soo-Hyuk then mentioned that I could request information anytime. After some thought, I asked him to find out about Haru's mother's current situation.

"You want to find the mother of the newly recruited rookie?"

"Yes, sir."

"Hmm, it's not impossible. Do you have any personal information on her?"

I handed over the information I had gathered before coming to Seoul. "Will this suffice?"

I gave him a file with a photo of Haru's mother, Natalia, and what the locals knew about her.

"This should be enough. But it will take some time, just so you know."

"Thank you so much."

"What's there to thank for? Oh. And Mr. Kang had high praise for you, Assistant Manager Jung."

"Mr. Kang did? Really?" I asked with an excited expression.

Jung Soo-Hyuk's face brightened as he began to relay Kang Gam-Chan's words.

-Just keep doing what you're doing.

Kang Gam-Chan had apparently burst into hearty laughter in his hospital room upon hearing about my exploits.

"Mr. Kang was very fond of talking about you, Assistant Manager Jung. No, Team Lead Jung. He made me promise to actively help you in any way I could." Jung Soo-Hyuk said with a smile.

I felt a lump in my throat. "But I haven't done much to be so praised."

Jung Soo-Hyuk's eyes sparkled. "Ha ha ha. This guy. You still say that after turning Singer Division 1 upside down? Was that all just a coincidence then?"

'Is he being cautious?' I wondered.

But after exchanging a few words, I realized his curiosity was about how I managed to handle such challenging situations and where I got my information from.

But I decided to play dumb because I couldn't share the source of my information with anyone.

"All I can say is to trust Mr. Kang's judgment, as he has trusted me," I replied.

Jung Soo-Hyuk stepped back with a content smile. "Well, I am curious about your motives but that's not the most important thing now. Oh, and about Lee Eun-Hyang. We've given her a generous severance package to keep her quiet along with a separate agreement."

'So that's why there was no word from her.'

It made sense, given her personality. Jung Soo-Hyuk explained that Lee Dong-Min had pulled some strings when she was moving to another company.

I expressed my gratitude to Jung Soo-Hyuk. "Thank you for taking care of it. It made handling things much smoother."

Jung Soo-Hyuk waved his hands dismissively as if it were a small matter. "Don't mention it. I was just doing my job."

But the more I knew about having such a reliable ally, the deeper my thoughts grew. Hoop Entertainment was tightly controlled by the Kang Gam-Chan faction, exerting influence over both visible and hidden aspects of the company.

But how Kim Dong-Soo and the less-competent Lee Gi-Cheol would gain the upper hand was beyond me.

With questions I couldn't ask or investigate openly, I resolved to uncover that secret. After all, that was the only way we could prevent Hoop Entertainment from being torn apart.

***

I couldn't help but feel sorry as Haru and I entered my small one-room apartment. The tiny space, barely ten pyeong, hardly had enough room to lay down.

"Please bear with it for a while. We'll move as soon as we find a place."

Scanning the apartment for a place to put his bag, Haru smiled and scratched his head.

"No, I like it here. It's cozy."

Cozy indeed. The space was so small that our legs could easily touch if we sat across from each other with a table between us.

"You'll be living with me when we move. Like it or not, we'll be together until you graduate from high school," I said.

Haru beamed as if that was good news. "Okay."

"And from now on, call me hyung. I don't like being called uncle or Mr. Jung," I said in response.

Haru responded energetically. "Okay, hyung!"

I thought to myself, 'Coming to Seoul where he knows no one but Sae-Ri must have been daunting.'

And with Sae-Ri being busy, it would be hard even to see her. So I started by changing how we addressed each other, reassuring Haru repeatedly. Given that Haru was practically abandoned by his parents, I made an effort to provide him with unwavering trust.

Just like my mother, Sister Mikaela, had done for me.

The next morning, the scent of warm rice filled my nose as soon as I woke up. To my surprise, a small table that we used as a dining table was neatly set with freshly cooked white rice, soybean paste stew, rolled omelet, and several side dishes.

"What's all this?" I asked with widened eyes.

"Oh, I just made some dishes with what you had in the fridge. Please try it," Haru replied with a broad smile.

Haru had woken up 30 minutes earlier to prepare breakfast.

I looked at all the food and said, "You didn't have to wait for me. You can eat first next time."

"I wanted to eat with you, hyung."

It seemed I was more tired than I thought, having slept so deeply that I didn't notice Haru preparing the meal in our small one-room apartment.

I nodded and said, "But really. Go ahead and eat first next time, okay?"

"No, that's okay. We should eat together. Anyway, hyung. Go wash up before eating."

"Alright, I'll be quick."

After a quick wash, I sat down at the table.

"Let's eat."

I scooped some steaming stew into Haru's bowl and then tried some myself. Expecting nothing special from a meal prepared by a teenager, I was surprisingly impressed by the taste.

"Woah, this is really good!" I exclaimed.

"Really?"

"Yes, it tastes amazing. You could sell this. Seriously," I said while taking a few more sips of the stew.

Haru beamed, pleased with the compliment. For a moment, I wondered if I should support him to be a chef instead of an actor.

"Hehe. I'm glad you like it, hyung."

"But you don't have to prepare meals like this in the future. That's what talent agents are for."

"No, I can do it."

"Fine, but just for the time being. Okay? Once you start getting schedules and lessons, you won't have time for housework."

"Okay, I understand."

"Alright then. Let's eat."

I topped my white rice with a slice of the yellow omelet and took a bite.

'Wow. Just wow.' I exclaimed inwardly.

The sweet omelet was incredibly fluffy and soft and melted in my mouth effortlessly.

I was so impressed by his cooking. 'Is this ice cream or an omelet?'

Amazed once again by Haru's culinary skills, an idea struck me as I continued to eat.

"Haru, I'm thinking it might be good to move up your debut. Would that be okay with you?"

"When would it be?"

"Next month."

Haru froze while holding his spoon in mid-air.

***

In my past life, Haru had made his name by playing a young lead in MBS's drama The Lion's Agony.

However, The Lion's Agony wouldn't start production until three years later and I had to choose a different project for him. But the moment I witnessed Haru's cooking skills, a suitable show came to mind.

[Everyday V10]

[Date: July 3, 2020]

-05:20 p.m. Master of Mukbang Woo Sung-Chan's audition.

Woo Sung-Chan from Actor Division 3, whom Kim Dong-Soo was training, was set to be the star of Master of Mukbang.

But my plan was to replace him with Haru. After all, Woo Sung-Chan had a serious issue that would disqualify him.