NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 167

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 167. Tailing

 

The airplane that departed from LA arrived at Incheon Airport, and unlike when they left the country, the airport was quiet.

 

 

 

The arrival schedule was also at dawn, and anticipating that everyone would be exhausted from the overseas schedule for several days, the company handled the return schedule privately so that reporters wouldn’t swarm unnecessarily.

 

 

 

The members and staff, tired from jet lag, collected their luggage and got into their respective prepared cars.

 

 

 

“Yeon-woo, get in!”

 

“Oppa! Please make sure to give my autograph and letter to So-hyeon unnie!”

 

“Got it. I’m sure Younger Sibling will like it.”

 

 

 

Yeon-woo also said goodbye to the members and got into the car prepared in the parking lot along with Kim Min-su and Lee Ye-eun.

 

 

 

“Whew, it’s cold.”

 

 

 

When Ye-eun breathed out, her breath was visible.

 

 

 

“You’re right. After being in mild weather for a few days and then coming to Korea, it already feels like severe cold.”

 

 

 

At Yeon-woo’s words, Kim Min-su quickly started the engine and turned on the heater.

 

 

 

The airplane that departed late at night from LA flew for 13 hours to arrive in Korea, and due to the time difference, it was 5 AM Korean time.

 

 

 

“You must be tired. I’ll start driving now.”

 

 

 

Kim Min-su drove the car out of Incheon Airport and traveled on the quiet roads, quickly heading toward Yeon-woo’s home.

 

 

 

When Yeon-woo got out in front of his home that they had arrived at, Kim Min-su also got out and helped take the luggage from the trunk.

 

 

 

“You worked hard, actor. Thanks to you, I even got to travel to America.”

 

“What hard work. Min-su hyung worked hard driving from this early dawn. Go in and rest well!”

 

“Yes! I’ll head in!”

 

 

 

Kim Min-su said goodbye and got back in the car.

 

 

 

And as Yeon-woo turned around and walked toward his home, he took out his smartphone from his pocket and brought it to his ear.

 

 

 

“Hae-woon. Let’s begin.”

 

– Yes. Understood.

 

 

 

Han Hae-woon’s voice, already connected on the call, came through the receiver.

 

 

 

Yeon-woo went into his home, set up his smartphone on the table, and took out his laptop.

 

 

 

At that moment, Han Hae-woon was tailing the car with the staff from Incheon Airport.

 

They had planned to tail James Choi immediately upon returning to the country.

 

 

 

“It seems they’ll get off at LN Entertainment Headquarters at once and then go to their respective homes.”

 

– Yes. I just entered Gangnam. The direction is also correct toward the LN Building.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Yeon-woo turned on his laptop and operated the program.

 

 

 

“Ready. Let’s switch to video.”

 

– Yes. Understood.

 

 

 

When the sound of Han Hae-woon operating buttons was heard, soon a split-screen video appeared on Yeon-woo’s laptop.

 

 

 

It was video from Han Hae-woon’s smartphone rear camera, the car’s front and rear 2-channel dashcam, and the pen camera inserted next to the handkerchief on his jacket.

 

 

 

“Mm, it’s coming through well.”

 

– This is the opposite of before.

 

 

 

At Han Hae-woon’s words, Yeon-woo chuckled.

 

 

 

“Now that you mention it, you’re right.”

 

 

 

With Han Hae-woon’s past life Baek Yu-hyeon, they mainly worked operations together in the Middle East.

 

 

 

At that time, the agent going to the field was Yeon-woo, and the one providing information support from the office was Han Hae-woon.

 

 

 

But today, those roles were reversed.

 

 

 

On the monitor, he could see Hae-woon’s car following the bus provided by LN Enter from a distance.

 

 

 

“Rather, overtake them and go wait in advance in front of LN’s building. Since I know all the staff cars, the unfamiliar car will be James’s car.”

 

– Yes. Understood.

 

 

 

Then Hae-woon’s car sped up, overtook the bus ahead, and drove to LN’s building.

 

 

 

And after waiting for a while, the staff who got off the bus began getting into their respective cars at the building and leaving the parking lot.

 

 

 

‘That car is the external makeup team vehicle, and that black van is the production team vehicle.’

 

 

 

Watching the cars coming out, Yeon-woo checked them one by one.

 

 

 

Then one unfamiliar vehicle came out from the parking lot entrance.

 

 

 

‘The only ones who haven’t come out yet are Team Leader Yoon Mi-yeon and that guy James Choi.’

 

 

 

Team Leader Yoon Mi-yeon drives a black SUV.

 

And the car that just came out was a dark blue sports sedan, unfamiliar from the company.

 

 

 

“That’s the car. Follow it.”

 

– Confirmed.

 

 

 

Han Hae-woon’s car soon departed and continued following while maintaining some distance.

 

 

 

“That guy’s current residence is definitely Nonhyeon-ro in Gangnam-gu.”

 

– Yes. Yeoksam-dong.

 

 

 

However, the car that departed from the Sinsa-dong office building was crossing Dongho Bridge.

 

 

 

After several days of overseas schedule, he must be sufficiently tired, yet heading somewhere other than home at this dawn was definitely not normal.

 

 

 

Han Hae-woon seemed to think the same as he opened his mouth while pursuing that guy’s car.

 

 

 

– Seeing him go straight somewhere without even stopping by home right after returning, he must have an important purpose.

 

“There’s also the possibility that his actual residence is different from what we investigated, but we’ll find out by pursuing him.”

 

 

 

And while Han Hae-woon and Yeon-woo were conversing, the car continued driving and went near Seodaemun Station.

 

 

 

Then it slipped right into an officetel parking lot.

 

 

 

– Should I follow and enter, Team Leader?

 

 

 

Yeon-woo stroked his chin and shook his head.

 

 

 

“No, wait. There’s no need to rush. There’s no need to follow him in while taking unnecessary risks.”

 

– Then should we withdraw from here?

 

 

 

At Han Hae-woon’s words, Yeon-woo looked intently at the officetel on the screen, then as if something occurred to him, he gave instructions.

 

 

 

“Go around to the back of the building quickly once.”

 

 

 

Han Hae-woon immediately drove the car into the alley behind the building.

 

 

 

“Look up. Can you see the elevator line in the center of the building?”

 

– Hmm, it’s hard to distinguish since the lights are off except for the 1st floor.

 

 

 

Han Hae-woon said this while holding up his smartphone to show Yeon-woo the screen through the rear camera.

 

 

 

“Just keep watching. See if any floors with lights turning on are visible through the windows.”

 

– Yes. Understood.

 

 

 

Most high-rise buildings turn off lights in common areas without movement after midnight to reduce waste from standby power.

 

 

 

Yeon-woo looked at Han Hae-woon’s screen while opening an internet window next to it and began searching for something.

 

 

 

Then Han Hae-woon’s voice was heard.

 

 

 

– A light just came on in the central part of the 7th floor.

 

“Keep watching. See when it goes off.”

 

 

 

Exactly 10 minutes later, the light went off again.

 

It automatically turned off again when there was no movement to trigger the sensor.

 

 

 

“It’s been less than 10 minutes since that guy went in and we moved to the back of the building. The fact that no floors had lights on when we arrived means that guy hadn’t gone up from the parking garage yet.”

 

 

 

Han Hae-woon agreed with Yeon-woo’s words.

 

 

 

– That means there’s a high probability that guy got off on the 7th floor.

 

“Because no other floors’ lights came on while the 7th floor light was automatically turning off.”

 

 

 

Unless he was just sitting still in the underground parking garage for dozens of minutes, it was certain he got off on the 7th floor.

 

 

 

Yeon-woo looked at the monitor.

 

 

 

On the 7th floor of the building where Hae-woon was standing, only one company was located.

 

 

 

“I just looked it up and there’s a company called Skullcap Corporation on the 7th floor. It’s unlisted and there’s almost no available data, so I’ve only found out one thing so far.”

 

– What’s that one thing?

 

 

 

Yeon-woo smiled with interest as he spoke.

 

 

 

“Skullcap is the English name for the wildflower ‘Hwang-geum.'”

 

– ···Hwang-geum, that’s the codename of the agent who handed drugs to that Jeon Ki-hoon back then.

 

 

 

‘Jeon Ki-hoon’ was originally supposed to play Dipangdal but was a trap planted by Baek Sol, who tried to harm “White Blood” with a drug incident.

 

 

 

The codename of the agent who provided drugs to actor Jeon Ki-hoon, now under arrest and investigation, and who is presumed to be the main figure behind that scheme, is ‘Hwang-geum.’

 

 

 

When Yeon-woo heard that the agent’s codename was Hwang-geum, he thought of a National Intelligence Service agent who was in charge of Northwest China, because he remembered hearing about a peculiar agent who mainly used wildflower names as codenames.

 

 

 

“I thought we’d have to start searching from the Uyghur region, but it seems he was hiding in Seoul?”

 

– We should start the investigation centered on this place.

 

“Let’s call it a day here and withdraw. Good work.”

 

– It’s fortunate that we got results though.

 

 

 

Yeon-woo looked at the screen and continued as if something occurred to him.

 

 

 

“Oh, right. We should buy some equipment, shouldn’t we? Professional equipment. I’m going to make some money now.”

 

 

 

At Yeon-woo’s words, Han Hae-woon’s laughter could be heard softly from beyond the phone receiver.

 

 

 

– Haha. I saw in the news that you’re earning a lot. But is the screen quality that bad?

 

“Yeah. At night it’s difficult to identify anything. Besides this, I need to prepare various other things.”

 

 

 

The money that went through double and triple channels would be delivered to Baek No-ya through Han Hae-woon, then laundered again through complex routes to become funds that could be used without surveillance.

 

 

 

Since it was already money laundered once through Han Hae-woon when delivered to Baek No-ya in the first place, there was no way to find out it came from Yeon-woo’s hands.

 

 

 

Yeon-woo and Han Hae-woon were also quite expert in that field, if not to Baek No-ya’s level.

 

 

 

– If you want, I can process part of it as donations too. You’ll be paying a lot of taxes. You should save on taxes.

 

“That’s fine. Well, if you earn a lot, it’s natural to pay a lot. I’m managing tax payments thoroughly.”

 

– This is also money ultimately used for the country, isn’t it.

 

 

 

Yeon-woo chuckled at Han Hae-woon’s joke.

 

 

 

“I need to maintain a state where not even a speck of dust comes out if searched. Especially in Korea, areas like taxes must be handled thoroughly to an excessive degree.”

 

– A celebrity’s life is tough.

 

 

 

Since he had contracted “White Blood” with a running guarantee, the profits would be on a completely different level from what he had earned from his previous works.

 

 

 

‘Since public attention will naturally focus on income, I need to manage the financial aspects even more thoroughly.’

 

 

 

Money could always be earned again, but once you lose your image, there’s no going back.

 

 

 

Knowing this well, Yeon-woo wouldn’t have any problems in that area going forward.

 

 

 

“Anyway, what are you going to do about the equipment? Should I introduce you to a dealer?”

 

– Ah, I’ve been rolling around in this industry for quite a while before I die. Compared to you, Team Leader, I’d be like showing off in front of a cocoon, but I do have my own skills.

 

“Oh my. Got it. Contact me if you run into any roadblocks while proceeding.”

 

– Yes!

 

 

 

After ending the call, Yeon-woo stretched.

 

 

 

“Phew, I need to sleep too. The sun is already rising.”

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

Yeon-woo, who had fallen asleep watching the morning sun rise, slept deeply and didn’t wake up until the afternoon.

 

 

 

“Ugh, my head feels like it’s going to split.”

 

 

 

He felt dizzy due to jet lag.

 

 

 

He picked up his smartphone to check the messages that had come while he was sleeping, and his hand stopped when he saw one particular message.

 

 

 

– Kim Ju-hyeong: Yeon-woo! I finally finished writing the script!

 

Attachment: Mirror (Working Title) Script_Complete_Revision2_Final1a_Final.txt

 

 

 

“What kind of file name is…”

 

 

 

It was a file name that conveyed the earnest anguish of an aspiring playwright.

 

 

 

Tap tap─.

 

 

 

Yeon-woo typed a message in the “Theater Troupe New Star” group chat.

 

 

 

– Ryu Yeon-woo: I came back to Korea early this morning. Our theater troupe should start gathering soon. The script is ready too.

 

– Woo Seong-sik: Oh! Awesome! You’re back already? How was America?

 

– Kim Jun-su: You should rest a bit. Coming back from work and immediately jumping into more work?

 

 

 

Yeon-woo smiled seeing his friends’ messages that flew in immediately.

 

 

 

While Baeksol-related work was certainly important, his main life was still as Ryu Yeon-woo.

 

 

 

Since he had worked all night without sleep right after returning to Korea, shouldn’t he maintain some work-life balance?

 

 

 

Though if someone looked at it, it would be ambiguous which side was work and which was life.

 

 

 

What was certain was that he had never once thought of acting as work.

 

For Yeon-woo, acting was life.

 

 

 

Tap tap─.

 

 

 

– Ryu Yeon-woo: What are you talking about? Even in America, my body was itching thinking about acting with the theater troupe. Let’s meet at the hideout at nine tonight. How about it?

 

 

 

As soon as he sent the message, replies flew back immediately.

 

 

 

– Woo Seong-sik: Totally possible!

 

– Kim Jun-su: Okay.

 

– Kim Ju-hyeong: But actually, the three of us are already at the hideout.

 

– Jin Yu-han: I just saw this. I’ll head over right after tonight’s performance ends.

 

 

 

Yeon-woo, who had been looking at his smartphone, got out of bed and went to take a shower.

 

 

 

“Should I wash up and head out? It’s finally starting now. ‘Theater Troupe New Star.'”

 

 

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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