NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 193

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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 193. New People

The 1st floor of the five-story Mokwha Building houses a small privately-run bakery, while the rest of the commercial spaces are still vacant.

 

And the entrance leading into the building interior has double security doors installed, making it difficult for outsiders to enter.

 

Since the 1st floor shops each have their own separate entrances, only the three companies residing in the building use the internal access passage.

 

Now they plan to attract cafes or brunch restaurants to the other 1st floor spaces by advertising rental rates cheaper than the surrounding commercial district.

 

‘The more it becomes a tourist attraction where people frequently gather, the safer it actually becomes. It’s darkest under the lamp, after all.’

 

That’s why even when conducting operations abroad, safe houses are established near markets or downtown areas with heavy foot traffic, not in remote locations.

 

Yet security must still be maintained.

It would be problematic if outsiders frequently entered the building interior.

 

‘In that sense, an entertainment company is the most perfect fit for maintaining security.’

 

The building’s 2nd floor houses ‘Saebyeol Media,’ a company responsible for content production and planning that originally fell under LN Media, with Director Yoon Mi-yeon scheduled to serve as general manager, while the 4th floor is the entertainment company managed by CEO Jeong Hyeok.

 

Originally, actor agencies don’t have very strict security because sasaeng fans relatively rarely camp out near the company, and their actors don’t have much reason to come to the office in the first place.

 

However, Yeon-woo aimed for their actors to frequently commute to the company like an idol agency, forming a community.

 

What he created for this purpose was the 3rd floor.

Yeon-woo took the elevator down to the 3rd floor.

 

Inside the bar of the luxurious cafeteria decorated like a VIP lounge stood a middle-aged man with stylishly pomaded hair.

 

“Yeon-woo. Would you like a latte?”

 

It was CEO Kim Ju-seong.

Yeon-woo smiled and nodded.

 

“I can’t resist your coffee, CEO.”

 

Originally, he naturally had no intention of having Kim Ju-seong run the cafeteria like this.

 

But as soon as Kim Ju-seong saw this space, he volunteered to take charge and operate it himself.

 

Having grown sick of company management and the entertainment industry after going through all these incidents, CEO Kim Ju-seong instinctively knew that operating this place would be both rest and healing time for him.

 

That’s when Yeon-woo first learned that CEO Kim Ju-seong was a coffee enthusiast who even had a barista certification.

 

‘Come to think of it, he was always drinking coffee whenever we met in his office.’

 

But this was by no means wasting high-level talent.

Having placed him in this position, there was no one more suitable than CEO Kim Ju-seong.

 

‘The reason I designed the 3rd floor this way was precisely for “creativity that sparks like lightning on set.”‘

 

This was something Director Park Chan-hong emphasized every time he filmed a movie.

 

His theory was that already accomplished excellent actors are each experts and maestros in their field, so masterpieces are born when their creativity is unleashed on set.

 

The 2nd floor is scheduled to have many people involved in video production like dramas and movies coming and going.

 

‘Mainly directors, writers, producers, and distribution company representatives.’

 

And excluding staff, the only people who could access the 4th floor were the agency’s actors.

 

By designing the 3rd floor in between as a space where people could naturally gather, the purpose was to have producers and actors meet naturally and unleash creativity on set, sparking brilliant projects.

 

For Yeon-woo, who had spent most of his time stationed in Europe until his death, infiltrating various companies and all walks of life, this kind of flexible work environment was more familiar.

 

While he was having these various thoughts, CEO Kim Ju-seong made a latte and offered it to Yeon-woo.

 

“Wow. You even know how to do latte art?”

“I just tried drawing something.”

 

The latte that the smiling Kim Ju-seong offered had a cute cat face drawn in milk.

 

“The cat is really cute.”

“…I drew a bear though?”

“Ah…”

 

Yeon-woo quietly drank his coffee.

 

CEO Kim Ju-seong is such a legendary figure that he built LN Media and LN Enter from scratch with his bare hands.

 

Since he’s someone with such foresight in evaluating works that he wouldn’t fall behind anyone in the industry, he’ll be able to give better advice than anyone to the numerous actors and production staff here.

 

‘CEO Jeong Hyeok will probably be the one seeking advice most often.’

 

He could clearly picture Jeong Hyeok calling out “CEO!” and hurrying down to seek advice on what to do.

 

***

 

A few days later, Gong Min-jeong, who had passed the document screening and came to Mokwha Building for an interview, looked up at the company building and calmed her nervous heart.

 

“I have to pass! Fighting!”

 

After clapping her hands together, she approached the building entrance and saw a staff member who had come out to provide guidance.

 

“Are you here for an interview today?”

“Yes, yes!”

 

The staff member smiled and opened the security door, guiding Gong Min-jeong.

 

“Please go up to the 3rd floor.”

“Thank you!”

 

Gong Min-jeong got on the elevator and pressed the button for the 3rd floor.

 

Ding─.

 

When the doors opened, a cafe with interior design that anyone would recognize as a luxurious hotel lounge appeared.

 

“Huh…? Wasn’t this the 3rd floor?”

 

Just then, a staff member in casual clothing approached and asked Gong Min-jeong, who hadn’t gotten off the elevator yet.

 

“Are you Ms. Gong Min-jeong who’s here for an interview today?”

“Huh? Yes! That’s right.”

 

Then they smiled gently and gestured toward the interior with their hand.

 

“Ms. Gong Min-jeong. Please go inside and we’ll have our conversation.”

 

Min-jeong had expected to be called into a space where two or three interviewers sat in front of her, like a troublemaker being dragged to the faculty office, so she was extremely flustered inside as she followed the staff’s guidance into the cafe.

 

“So you see, Ji-eun unnie. That’s when the Director suddenly appeared there and said to us…”

 

As Min-jeong walked, she saw women laughing nearby, seemingly telling some interesting story.

 

“Huh…?”

 

At first, she thought she was seeing things wrong.

 

‘Seo Ji-eun and Han Byeol…?’

 

There was no way she wouldn’t recognize actress Seo Ji-eun, who was currently making waves across variety shows, and child actress Han Byeol, who had risen to stardom with “White Blood.”

 

‘Are they really Seo Ji-eun and Han Byeol…?’

 

Just as her mind was filling with confusion, she heard the voice of the staff member walking ahead.

 

“Ms. Gong Min-jeong, how about having our conversation here? Our company’s interviews are conducted in a simple conversational format.”

“Oh, yes!”

 

Behind the table the staff member pointed to, she could see Son Jin-wook sitting.

 

‘Ugh… What kind of place is this?’

 

Though it was a cafe with an incomparably more comfortable atmosphere than an interview room, Min-jeong sat down stiffly, completely frozen by the sight of famous actors all around her.

 

Just then, the man sitting across from Jin-wook turned around.

 

“Oh? You’re YeonWoolBabyCoochieCoochie, right? Senior Min-jeong!”

 

It was Ryu Yeon-woo.

Having encountered even her favorite celebrity, Min-jeong looked around, wondering if she was being subjected to another surprise camera moment following the YouTube channel ‘Fan Detective.’

 

“Wh-what is this place? It’s scary…”

 

***

 

Public recruitment wasn’t the only route to join Saebyeol Entertainment.

 

Im Jae-wook was out at the labor market at dawn, wrapping his cold body and looking for work.

In winters like this, it was even harder to find work because most construction projects took a break due to the frozen ground.

 

When he worked as manager for Jeon Ki-hoon, who was charged with drug use, he suffered daily and felt extreme mental stress, but he was grateful that at least he could pay his mother’s hospital bills on time.

 

Though his eyes, which had been dying like rotten pollack eyes, came back to life, thinking of his sick mother made one corner of his heart feel like it was rotting away proportionally.

 

“Phew… It’s cold.”

 

The weather, his heart, and society were all cold.

 

Yesterday too, he had barely found work and after running construction labor all day, he came home exhausted and fell asleep immediately, only to find several text messages had arrived in the meantime.

 

‘It’s probably just another notice about something being overdue…’

 

He felt like he was living quite diligently, but his situation didn’t improve since most of his money went to his mother’s hospital bills.

 

While checking various things on his smartphone, he discovered an unexpected text message.

 

– Hello, Mr. Im Jae-wook. This is Team Leader Kim Min-su from Saebyeol Entertainment. If you’re interested in working as a manager, please contact this number anytime.

 

‘…Manager Kim Min-su? Wasn’t he actor Ryu Yeon-woo’s manager?’

 

Suddenly, Jae-wook thought the text message was glowing.

Of course, it was glowing since the smartphone screen was emitting light, but he felt it was particularly sparkling.

 

“…Should I call?”

 

Though it wasn’t by choice, when he quit as Jeon Ki-hoon’s manager, he had resolved never to do this job again.

 

But remembering Ryu Yeon-woo, with whom he had briefly conversed in the parking lot just once, he thought that not all actors would be like Jeon Ki-hoon.

 

And Im Jae-wook pressed the call button.

 

***

 

After that, Jae-wook passed through the subsequent interview in just one day with lightning speed and came to work in the management team.

 

The celebrity he was assigned to was ‘Jeong Cheol-min.’

 

Having always done everything by himself without a manager his entire life, Cheol-min found it awkward to have someone young enough to be his son taking care of him.

 

“Oh, I told you it’s fine. I can just drive home myself, but they told me to just go home…”

“Ah, no sir. Actor. This is my job.”

“What’s with ‘Actor’? Just call me Uncle Cheol-min.”

“Pardon?”

 

Then Jeong Cheol-min, sitting in the back seat, laughed good-naturedly.

 

“Is uncle a bit awkward? But it’d be shameless to ask you to call me hyung. Call me Teacher Cheol-min.”

“Ah, yes. Teacher.”

 

Eventually, Jeong Cheol-min got out of the car when they arrived at his Seoul home that he got because of his schedule.

 

“Jae-wook, there are some gift sets I received here and there in the back seat. I don’t know what to do with them, so take them all when you get off work. Share them with your family. Got it? You must take them all.”

 

Jeong Cheol-min grinned and went into the building.

 

“Pardon? Teacher! Teacher Jeong Cheol-min!”

 

Im Jae-wook called out urgently, but without even looking back, he waved his hand above his head and disappeared inside, and the glass door of the officetel closed.

 

When Im Jae-wook looked at the back seat, there were gift sets wrapped in luxurious wrapping cloth that clearly looked like Korean beef sets and all kinds of fruits.

 

And there was also a handwritten memo attached.

 

– You really must take everything. If even one thing is left behind, you’ll get in trouble. Got it?

 

Im Jae-wook scratched his tingling nose bridge and grabbed the steering wheel again.

 

Im Jae-wook arrived at the hospital where his mother was staying and entered the hospital ward carrying a fruit set for the first time in a while.

 

Then someone who had been talking with a nurse in the center of the ward approached Im Jae-wook.

 

‘Someone from the Administration Department…?’

 

He thought they were approaching to demand payment for overdue hospital bills, but the staff member who came close said something unexpected.

 

“You’re Im Jae-wook, the guardian of patient Kim Su-young, correct?”

“Yes, yes…”

“Someone came this morning and paid all the hospital bills, but we haven’t received the guardian’s consent separately, so it hasn’t been processed yet.”

 

Then the staff member held out some documents.

 

“You need to sign here for it to be processed.”

 

– Medical Bill Payment Consent Form

 

Im Jae-wook’s eyes widened as he looked at the documents the staff member handed him.

 

“What? Who on earth…?”

“If you look at the second page of the documents, you’ll see the name of the person who made the payment. Please check and sign quickly. We need to process this by today.”

 

Im Jae-wook turned to the second page of the documents and scanned it to find the name of the person who had paid the medical bills.

 

– Ryu Yeon-woo

 

The moment he saw those three characters, tears suddenly welled up in Im Jae-wook’s eyes.

 

And he collapsed on the spot and broke down sobbing.

 

For the first time in his harsh, cold life of hardship, it felt like someone’s warm hand of salvation was reaching out to him.

 

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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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