Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All-Chapter 487: Switching Horses (1)

[Live-Time Search Rankings]

Jung Yoo-Jin Wild Boar

Hwaranjeon Wild Boar

Jung Yoo-Jin Falling from a Horse

Yoo-Jin's name was at the top of the trending searches. But unfortunately, it was paired with the term 'wild boar.' Seeing that made me laugh, and Yoo-Jin grumbled.

"Don't laugh, oppa!"

"Sorry."

I quickly covered my mouth, but the staff had already turned their heads after hearing me.

"Why? What happened?"

"What's so funny?"

The startled Yoo-Jin waved her hands in denial. "It's nothing."

But her attempt to brush it off failed miserably. Miso, who had just returned from Tongyeong and joined us for dinner, asked why the trending searches looked like that. "Uncle Yoon-Ho, why is my mom a wild boar?"

"Ah, well..."

That was when the staff took out their phones to check one by one. Holding wild boar meat in one hand and their phones in another, everyone burst into laughter.

"Pfft."

"Come on, this is a bit much."

"Wild boars are great, though! They taste good too!"

"Ha ha!"

Yoo-Jin looked utterly defeated as she banged her head against the table. "I'm... finished."

Miso quickly tried to comfort her mother. "Aww, Mom, I'm sorry! It's my fault! Cheer up, okay?"

'But seriously, what were Ms. Choi and Mr. Jang thinking with those headlines?'

The reason for the trending searches was the article I had tipped off, which had shot up to first and second place in the entertainment news section.

[Wild Boar Appears on the Set of Hwaranjeon. (By Star Exclusive Reporter Choi So-Hye)]

-A massive wild boar suddenly appeared on the Hwaranjeon set in Gyeongju, attacking the actors.

-Jung Yoo-Jin was thrown off her horse but suffered no injuries thanks to her talent agent's quick response...

(Comments: 1,232)

Choi So-Hye's article was at least reasonable. But Jang Moon-Gi had attached a photo of 'Hogzilla' to his piece. Hogzilla was a mash-up of hog and Godzilla. The image in his article showed a hogzilla as big as a truck, and the comments section was exploding.

[Jung Yoo-Jin Encounters a House-Sized Giant Wild Boar! (By Weekly Star Reporter Jang Moon-Gi)]

-Jung Yoo-Jin faced a terrifying moment on the set of Hwaranjeon due to a giant wild boar! (Reference image)

(Comments: 7,732)

-Porkbelly Mania: No way, does a monster like this exist in Korea?

-USS Starship: That thing looks twice the size of a bull.

-Mukbang BJ Im Geok-Jeong: Tonight's mukbang live stream: wild boar barbecue! (Link) ...

'This guy is such a fraud.'

The tiny caption under the reference photo read "Hogzilla captured in the U.S." in nearly microscopic font. However, the general public, skimming through the articles, mistakenly believed that the hogzilla had actually been caught on the Hwaranjeon set.

Anyway, I carefully called Yoo-Jin's name to console her. "Yoo-Jin."

Yoo-Jin responded weakly. "Yeah..."

"The trending rankings will change soon. So cheer up. Here, have some meat."

I held out my chopsticks, but Yoo-Jin refused to take the food. "I think it'll stay up there for a while..."

Yoo-Jin's voice was full of gloom. In the end, I gave up trying to comfort her with words. Instead, I decided to feed her directly.

First, I laid out a piece of lettuce and added a perilla leaf on top. Then, I placed a perfectly grilled piece of wild boar belly on it, added a scoop of rice, and wrapped it all into a neat bite-sized wrap.[1]

Holding the wrap up to Yoo-Jin's mouth, I coaxed, "Yoo-Jin, here. Open your mouth~ The You & Me fan club is working on pushing the search ranking down, so don't worry. Come on~"

Still slumped against the table, Yoo-Jin hesitated before reluctantly opening her mouth. I seized the chance and popped the wrap into her mouth.

Chew, chew.

"It's good, right?"

Yoo-Jin munched away and nodded slightly. "Mmm... yes."

Her voice carried a hint of energy now.

I wrapped another one, this time with soybean powder and special sauce. "Here, have one more. This one has soybean powder."

"Okay..."

Chew, chew.

Yoo-Jin munched on every single wrap I brought to her mouth.

"This time, with pickled radish wrap[2] please..."

"Oh, sure."

"And raw garlic too..."

"Alright."

"Do we have scallion salad[3]?"

"Of course we do."

"And sesame sauce..."

"Okay."

Something felt off. Yoo-Jin should be sitting up and eating properly at this point, but she was still slumped over and just letting me feed her. Not only that, but she was also eating the wraps that Miso was making for her. Miso's wrap was twice the size of mine.

"Mom, here you go~ Eat this and feel better!"

Yoo-Jin opened her mouth wide and took it in one bite. "Ah~"

For a brief moment, Yoo-Jin's face brightened. However, as soon as the meat was gone, she returned to looking utterly miserable.

That's when it hit me.

'This sneaky little...'

Maybe she was really down at first, but she was definitely acting halfway through just so she could eat more meat. So this time, I stacked five pieces of wasabi pickled radish, added scallion salad, onions, and only cooked garlic, then handed it to her.

"Here. Open your mouth~"

As expected, Yoo-Jin took it without a second thought.

Chew, chew...

At that moment, Yoo-Jin suddenly lifted her head from the table with her eyes darting around frantically. "Uh, uh... Oppa! W-water! No, milk! Milk!"

I handed Yoo-Jin a small strawberry milk carton from the table.

With trembling hands, she fumbled with the straw. "Ahhh..."

After a few failed attempts, she finally managed to open it and chugged the milk in one go.

"Phew~ I thought I was gonna die."

"That's what you get for trying to be sneaky."

Yoo-Jin grinned at me with her expression screaming 'Heh, but I still ate plenty already~!'

If wasting talent on unnecessary acting were a competition, Yoo-Jin would be Korea's undisputed champion.

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***

The filming, which had been postponed due to the wild boar incident yesterday, resumed smoothly with the actors performing at their best after a good rest.

This time, Yoo-Jin wasn't riding Dolsoe but his twin Shadow.

With only about three more scenes left to shoot, I decided to take the cart down first and pack up my things in the waiting tent. Once today's filming wrapped up, Hwaranjeon wouldn't resume shooting until the evening two days later, so we would be heading back to Seoul.

That was when my phone rang. It was Jin Sung-Joon.

-Mr. Jung, your information was correct. Vice Chairman Jin Myung-Gyu just met actress Ahn Yoo-Hyun in Eulwang-ri. Our surveillance team is tailing them now.

Finally, Jin Myung-Gyu had made his move.

"Just observe for now. No matter what happens tonight, don't intervene."

-Understood. We'll discuss how to proceed once you arrive, Mr. Jung.

After hanging up, I checked the planner right away.

[Everyday V12]

[Date: December 11, 2020]

-10:00 p.m <Weekly Star> "Eulwang-ri Drunk Driving Incident. Heir to Jinseong Inc, Mr. A, in a Private Meeting with Miss B? Exclusive!"

Sure enough, the schedule entry about Jin Myung-Gyu's accident remained unchanged. However, the article would eventually be buried by Jinseong Inc's legal team, the police, and Weekly Star working together.

In the end, Jin Myung-Gyu's secretary, Park Hee-Joon, and Ahn Yoo-Hyun's talent agent, Lee Gyu-Han, would take the fall in their place.

That's why Jin Sung-Joon had assigned people to monitor the situation with the plan to expose it through the media.

However, I had another idea. I was going to add one more explosive twist to the situation. My plan was to convince Park Hee-Joon to turn against Jin Myung-Gyu and expose everything he knew from working in the vice chairman's office.

'I should meet him tomorrow...'

By then, Park Hee-Joon would already have been forced to take the blame for Jin Myung-Gyu's crime. That would be the perfect time to persuade him.

As I was about to put my phone away and finish packing, another call came in.

[Caller ID: Unknown Number]

'Who could this be?'

I usually ignored calls from restricted numbers, because they were almost always from gossip reporters. However, since I had just gotten off the phone with Jin Sung-Joon, I hesitated.

Thinking it might be someone from his side, I reluctantly answered.

"Hello?"

The voice on the other end was completely unexpected.

-Hello, this is Team Lead Park Hee-Joon from the Vice Chairman's Office at Jinseong Inc.

Park Hee-Joon, the very man who was about to take the fall for Jin Myung-Gyu, had called me first.

The sudden call caught me off guard, but I kept my voice steady.

"What is this regarding?"

-Could we meet in person? I'm at the Hwaranjeon set right now.

"You're at the set?"

-Yes. I've parked next to the white minibus in the lot.

Park Hee-Joon's voice was desperate as he pleaded repeatedly to meet in person.

'Interesting...'

I had planned to persuade him in Seoul, but this was a golden opportunity to lay the groundwork early. If I wanted to catch a fish, I had to throw out the bait first.

"Alright. I'll be right there."

***

I had met Park Hee-Joon once before my regression.

At the time, Jin Myung-Gyu had personally selected Jo Min-Sung from Hoop Entertainment's Actor Division 1 for an ad campaign.

Park Hee-Joon had been the one to bring the proposal to us. Though the offer hadn't come through the usual Promotion Division, it was a direct proposal from the vice chairman of Jinseong Inc. Naturally, both Jo Min-Sung and Hoop Entertainment accepted.

But when the payment date arrived, the promised one billion won never came. That's when chaos erupted at the company. Without delay, Kim Dong-Soo and I went to confront Park Hee-Joon.

Back then, Park Hee-Joon had tried to calm us down as if it wasn't a big deal.

-I sincerely apologize. There was a procedural issue causing a delay in the payment. It will be processed within a week, so please don't worry.

Since we weren't planning to do business with Jinseong Inc for just a day or two, we decided to wait and said we would follow up in a week.

However, a major scandal broke out a few days later. We received news that Park Hee-Joon had been arrested for embezzling Jo Min-Sung's ad payment.

And that shocking incident was still recorded in my planner.

[Everyday V12]

[Date: February 13, 2021]

- 10:00 p.m <Entertainment Insider> Jinseong Inc Secretary's Office Employee P Arrested for Multi-Billion Won Embezzlement (Meeting ContentL Jo Min-Sung's One Billion Won Payment Not Received. Legal Action Under Review.)

Only then did Hoop Entertainment scramble to prepare a lawsuit. Wanting to understand the full story, I personally went to the detention center to meet Park Hee-Joon. When I saw him, he was a mess—pale and haggard. Park Hee-Joon desperately insisted he was innocent.

Park Hee-Joon claimed that Jin Myung-Gyu had squandered the 1 billion won meant for Hoop Entertainment on gambling and entertainment, then framed him for it.

At first, I was skeptical. However, after visiting his run-down apartment and seeing his family, I knew he was telling the truth. He lived with his elderly mother and was struggling to raise newborn twins with his wife. Most embezzlers lived lavishly and spent extravagantly. But Park Hee-Joon was barely scraping by.

However, the court sided with Jin Myung-Gyu. His secretary's office provided testimony and fabricated evidence, leading to Park Hee-Joon's conviction.

A four-year prison sentence destroyed Park Hee-Joon's life. After he was jailed, his mother collapsed from the shock and passed away. His wife, overwhelmed by raising the twins alone and waiting her imprisoned husband, fell gravely ill.

This time, I wasn't going to let that happen. I was determined to bring Park Hee-Joon to my side and prevent this tragedy.

As I recalled the past while scrolling through my phone, I soon arrived at the parking lot. Standing off to the side was Park Hee-Joon.

Dressed in a sharp black suit with a gray coat, Park Hee-Joon had his hands clasped in front of him. "Hello. I'm Park Hee-Joon, Team Lead of Jinseong Inc's Secretary Office Team 4."

The thirty-eight-year-old man greeted me with a bright smile, completely unaware of the disaster about to befall him.

I exchanged business cards with him and returned the greeting. "So, what brings you here in person?"

After hesitating, Park Hee-Joon spoke. "I have a message from the vice chairman."

"Go ahead."

Park Hee-Joon glanced around cautiously. "Well... This isn't the best place to talk. Could we move to a nearby cafe?"

"I'm sorry, but I have to leave for Seoul as soon as filming ends. You can just tell me here."

Park Hee-Joon let out a sigh before saying, "We'd like you to cut ties with Mr. Jin Sung-Joon."

"Cut ties?"

"As you saw the other day, Mr. Jin Myung-Gyu and Mr. Jin Sung-Joon do not get along. It would be best for you to step away from their conflict. We will compensate you generously."

This was getting interesting. I never expected Park Hee-Joon to try and persuade me to switch sides.

I asked, "Was this offer made by the vice chairman himself?"

"Yes. He felt that he may have been a bit rude the first time you met, so he instructed me to deliver his sincere apologies."

That was a blatant lie. The Jin Myung-Gyu I knew would never apologize. This had to be the work of his right-hand man, Chief Secretary Choi Hyung-Woon.

I had no intention of accepting their offer, but I was curious about how much they valued me. "What's the compensation?"

Thinking I was interested, Park Hee-Joon's face brightened before he named his price. "We will give you three billion won in cash. On top of that, all existing contracts will be honored and you will enjoy every benefit the vice chairman offers in the future."

I almost laughed. If I accepted the three billion won, my contract with Jin Sung-Joon would automatically be voided. And the so-called “benefits” were nothing but empty promises.

In other words, Jin Myung-Gyu valued me at a mere three billion won.

'He's such a greedy little snake.'

There was no need to hear any more.

'Alright then. Time to throw the bait.'

I looked straight at Park Hee-Joon and made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

'It's double or nothing!'

1. Although it's not boar, here's samgyeopsal with ssam (Grilled Pork with lettuce) ☜

2. Pickled Radish Wrap ☜

3. Scallion Salad ☜