Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All

Chapter 324: Counterattack (2)

Shin Jong-Gi picked up his phone and said, "It's CK Entertainment's President Son Hyung-Tae on the line."

"Go ahead and take it."

"Okay."

Shin Jong-Gi switched to speakerphone, clearly intending for Park Sun-Jae—now no longer an assistant director but a full-fledged director—his girlfriend Ahn Yoo-Joo, Choi Sung-Moon, and Pyo Eun-Mi to hear the conversation.

"Hey there~ President Son."

Immediately, a tone of surrender came through the phone.

-Let's call it quits here, Mr. Shin.

Shin Jong-Gi simply laughed dismissively, looking as if he wouldn't be satisfied until he had completely brought his opponent to his knees.

He replied, "You want to make peace now? You must have thought I was some fool or pushover all this time."

-If you have any conditions you want, just let me know...

"You should take the initiative to suggest the conditions. For example, how about delaying the release of The Thousand-Year Fox by two months?"

-Damn it! If you're going to make such absurd demands, let's forget it.

"Okay, suit yourself."

Desperate, Son Hyung-Tae threatened Shin Jong-Gi that he could reduce the number of theaters showing Beyond the Boundary.

-Mr. Shin, you haven't forgotten that Beyond the Boundary is currently showing in CK theaters too, have you?

CK Entertainment owned about 40% of theaters nationwide and banning Beyond the Boundary from its theaters would affect the audience numbers.

However, Shin Jong-Gi didn't even blink. "Go ahead and pull it if you can! First, you send Director Jo Jae-Kyung to stab me in the back. Now, you want to sweep it under the rug?"

-Sweep it under the rug? That's harsh! Besides, what do you expect me to do about Director Jo Jae-Kyung going off the rails?

"Hey, President Son. Do you take me for a fool? The whole world knows Director Jo is your nephew, so don't give me that bullshit."

As the argument between the two escalated, Son Hyung-Tae eventually declared war.

-Are you saying we're going all the way with this?

"Of course!"

-Fine, let's see what happens then.

Son Hyung-Tae hung up abruptly, seething with anger.

Shin Jong-Gi laughed heartily for a while, then chuckled awkwardly as he noticed Choi Sung-Moon's presence. "Mr. Choi. Ahem, don't worry too much. President Son is just bluffing."

Choi Sung-Moon laughed aloud. "I know. Why would they pull a film that's selling out morning shows? That would be like cutting their own throat."

"Exactly. If they tried that, the audience would protest immediately. Besides, even in the unlikely event they do cut the theaters, we at LT will increase the screening venues to make up for it. So don't worry," Shin Jong-Gi added.

Choi Sung-Moon chuckled. "Haha, I knew you had it all figured out."

Shin Jong-Gi confidently assured everyone that his bold words weren't without reason.

Indeed, even if theater chains had the right to adjust their screenings, pulling a popular film would certainly cause backlash from the public.

"But we'll still double the advertising budget for the next month just in case," Shin Jong-Gi assured everyone.

At Shin Jong-Gi's promise, satisfied laughter broke out among everyone in the meeting room.

Choi Sung-Moon also stood up with a brightened expression, saying he would join the actors for stage greetings from the morning screenings and spend the day with them. "With such strong support, I think I should do more stage greetings too."

Shin Jong-Gi agreed and then gave me a thumbs-up. "And Team Lead Jung, good work."

I smiled. "Thank you, sir."

However, I didn't plan to end things here. After all, someone like Jo Jae-Kyung wasn't the type to take a hit quietly.

I asked Shin Jong-Gi to ensure the safety of Park Sun-Jae and his girlfriend Ahn Yoo-Joo.

Given that Jo Jae-Kyung was the kind of person who would send stuntmen to try to kidnap me, there was no telling what kind of trouble he might cause.

"If that's the issue, don't worry. I've already arranged for them to use one of our affiliate hotels," said Shin Jong-Gi.

He had already taken measures to ensure their safety as if he had shared my concerns.

'Just wait a bit, Jo Jae-Kyung. This is only the beginning,' I thought.

After successfully landing the first blow against Jo Jae-Kyung, I headed back to the company to prepare for the next attack.

***

I hurried to the meeting room upon returning to Hoop Entertainment.

With the success of Beyond the Boundary already showing promising results from day one, all the talent agents in Team Jung were busy handling Lee Tae-Poong's matters.

The flood of inquiries was so overwhelming that there was hardly any time to breathe.

Kim Mi-Hye seemed to have received good news. "Oh, yes, understood! Thank you very much!"

After she ended the call, she exclaimed brightly, "Mr. Jung, they're saying it's sold out everywhere!"

By 2 p.m., the movie was sold out nationwide.

I immediately gave new instructions. "Distribute Tae-Poong's photos and press releases to the entertainment reporters right now. Make sure to ask them to highlight the fact that every seat is sold out."

"Yes, Mr. Jung!"

As the movie's popularity surged, the number of articles about Lee Tae-Poong also spiked, placing his name at the top of real-time search rankings.

A moment later Kim Mi-Hye exclaimed, "Mr. Jung! The articles are starting to come out!"

"Put them up on the screen!"

Kim Mi-Hye immediately displayed the related articles on the large LCD screen in the meeting room.

[Director Choi Sung-Moon's Beyond the Boundary surpasses 250,000 viewers by 2 p.m.!]

[Beyond the Boundary continues smoothly despite the commotion caused by Director Jo Jae-Kyung.]

[Love and bloody battles between North and South: Beyond the Boundary even draws the elderly to theaters—an unusual trend.]

Alongside these favorable articles, there was another unexpected advantage.

Someone had captured and uploaded a video of the altercation that took place during yesterday's VIP premiere, showing Jo Jae-Kyung raising his voice and criticizing us.

Fortunately, the comments were filled with negative reactions toward Jo Jae-Kyung. At this point, the public opinion battle was clearly a landslide victory.

In fact, Jo Jae-Kyung's initial plan to create a rivalry with a ten-million-viewer director for his first commercial film wasn't entirely a bad idea. After all, the public loved a good rivalry.

However, the conflict between Jo Jae-Kyung and Choi Sung-Moon ended up being framed as a battle between the privileged and the underprivileged rather than just a competition between the old and new generations.

As a result, CK Entertainment and Jo Jae-Kyung's provocations ended in complete failure.

Moreover, the story of how Americans were paid while Park Sun-Jae was not only fueled public outrage further.

Suppressing the twitch at the corner of my lips, I instructed my team, "Alright, let's handle this carefully. Any media interviews that come in, just direct them to me."

As I was about to focus on work, I received a call from TVM.

It was PD Yoo Hyun-Ji from Master of Mukbang.

Upon answering, Yoo Hyun-Ji started speaking in an unusually sweet tone.

-Mr. Jung~.

"How have you been, Ms. Yoo?"

-Well, you remember that we were supposed to negotiate Mr. Tae-Poong's appearance fee, right~?

We had agreed to negotiate for Tae-Poong and Miso to appear together in the follow-up to Master of Mukbang.

"But wasn't that scheduled for early October?"

Yoo Hyun-Ji spoke in an awkward tone.

-W-well, how about we do it a bit earlier~?

"I'm sorry, but things are too hectic right now. So I don't think we can discuss that."

-Wow~ That's really harsh. Don't you remember how TVM has gone out of its way to accommodate you in the past, Mr. Jung?

Thinking back, she wasn't wrong. I kept my mouth shut at a loss for words.

Then, Director Jo Eung-Cheon's urgent voice came on the line this time.

-Team Lead Jung! Come on, don't do this! You know we're strapped for cash, right?

'TVM, strapped for cash? Yeah, right,' I remarked inwardly.

I replied firmly. "I'm sorry, sir, but we're flooded with inquiries right now. If the negotiations don't work out, we'll take other offers. Tae-Poong already has a movie lined up for his next project and..."

Jo Eung-Cheon urgently interrupted.

-Wait! Okay, okay, just don't! Stop! We can't have that!

At the same time, Yoo Hyun-Ji chimed in.

-Please, just don't say you won't do it! I was just asking about the fee. Let's talk later!

Click.

The two hung up without getting anything in return.

Soon, calls started pouring in from heads of variety shows and CPs from the three major networks, as well as cable variety show PDs.

We had not only the main broadcasting stations reaching out, but even cable shows as well.

I smiled. 'I knew this would happen.'

Having successfully propelled Beyond the Boundary and Lee Tae-Poong into the spotlight, it was now time to put an end to Jo Jae-Kyung.

I left the meeting room and immediately called Seo Jae-Ill. "Mr. Seo, what's the progress of the two cases that we've discussed?"

Normally, prosecutors didn't share updates on ongoing investigations. However, since I was the informant, I was getting some rough updates.

-The case has been assigned to a competent prosecutor, so it should be handled well. But it'll take some time since it's a lawsuit against a conglomerate. So keep that in mind.

Seo Jae-Ill suggested it wouldn't be easy to handle the case swiftly as the other party most likely had top-notch lawyers representing them.

"In that case, what if we get the media involved? Would that speed up the investigation?" I suggested.

Seo Jae-Ill chuckled.

-Haha. Mr. Jung, you sure know your stuff. Yes, that's right. When things get noisy, the higher-ups tend to push for a quicker resolution.

"Then I'll go ahead and stoke the flames."

-It'll be quite embarrassing for a prosecutor if I don't get this done promptly. Alright, I'll make the necessary preparations on my end too.

After ending the call with Seo Jae-Ill, I immediately reached out to the best person in Korea to stir up a story.

"Hello, Mr. Jang. I've got something to tip you off about."

-A scoop?

"Of course. But it might need to be leaked as a rumor."

Jang Moon-Ki's laughter echoed through the phone.

-Hahaha. You know I'm the king of rumors, right? I'm Jang Moon-Ki, the rumor king!

***

Yesterday, we had a total of 550,000 viewers at 623 theaters nationwide. Today, we had double the number of theaters screening the movie.

I thought, 'We could aim for a million viewers in a single day at this rate.'

If this trend continued, surpassing ten million viewers would be more than achievable.

Nonetheless, despite the articles about Park Sun-Jae being published, CK Entertainment was still promoting that The Thousand-Year Fox would be released as scheduled.

"They've really lost all sense of fear, huh?" I remarked.

However, once Jang Moon-Ki's article dropped this afternoon, I was sure that CK Entertainment wouldn't be able to hold out any longer.

It was a good morning with everything falling into place.

I heard Jung In-Ji announce that breakfast was ready and headed downstairs. The dining table was already set with tofu stew and various side dishes.

"Thank you for the meal!" I said with a smile.

Slurp!

The spicy and savory tofu stew topped with floating chili oil was so delicious that I quickly devoured two bowls of rice.

After finishing the meal, Yoo-Jin spoke excitedly, "Oppa, Miso and I are going to watch the movie again today."

Today, we rented out Theater 7 at LT Cinema located in Apgujeong just for Hoop Entertainment actors and staff.

Yoo-Jin was planning to take a photo to post on her Instargem after watching the movie again.

"Really? Then why not take Mrs. Jung with you?" I asked.

Jung In-Ji tilted her head. "Me, to the theater?"

"Yes, ma'am, you're also an employee of Hoop Entertainment, aren't you?"

Yoo-Jin and Miso clapped their hands in realization. "Oh, that's right!"

During Miso's custody battle, Jung In-Ji was registered as a talent agent and was receiving a salary, so she was certainly eligible to go.

When I called the company, Lee Yung-Jin confirmed he had already reserved a spot for her.

Hearing this, Jung In-Ji looked deeply moved. "Lately, I'm really enjoying life thanks to you, Team Lead Jung."

Jung In-Ji wiped her tears and brought out a plate piled with strawberries for dessert. "Eat plenty, Team Lead Jung."

"T-thank you."

Jung In-Ji smiled broadly.

Filled with abundant love and a full stomach, I hurriedly prepared for work.

As I got in my car and started the engine to head to the company, I received a KkTalk message from Jang Moon-Ki.

[Jang Moon-Ki: I've published the article, so check it out! And don't forget your promise about giving me that exclusive scoop!]

"He must've been in quite a hurry."

As soon as I saw the KkTalk message, I checked the portal site for the article.

[Genius Director J Suspected of Habitual Gambling at LCM Casino!]

-The lavish spending of a third-generation chaebol who squandered the entire production budget on gambling.

Jang Moon-Ki had hit the mark with a 'rumor' article and blurred Jo Jae-Kyung's photo just enough to avoid legal trouble.

The comments were already flooding in.

(Comments)

-Director Jo Jae-Kyung. Total trash!

-Hey, be careful mentioning his real name. You'll get sued!

-That JJK guy has always been known for his arrogance.

-What's going on? Yesterday it was unpaid wages, and today it's gambling?

-Wow, what a piece of trash. He's using staff salaries to gamble? What a scumbag!!

Not a single person defended Jo Jae-Kyung and the situation was turning overwhelmingly in our favor.

I smiled. "This is perfect."

Just then, a call came in from Ahn Yoo-Joo as soon as I started the car.

-M-Mr. Jung! Director Jo Jae-Kyung just showed up here!

"What? How did he find the place?"

-I don't know! There are bodyguards and even a lawyer with him. It's chaos right now!

Apparently, Jo Jae-Kyung had found his way to the hotel that Shin Jong-Gi had arranged for them and was causing a commotion.

"I'll head over right away."

I immediately started the car and sped toward the J Hotel in Samseong-dong.

Actually, this was even better.

'Jo Jae-Kyung. Today is the day you get buried.'