NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 295
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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 295. Chef
Jin Yu-han entered the kitchen and looked around at the ingredients the production crew had prepared.
Since the ingredients were limited, he wanted to first figure out what was available before deciding what dish to make.
Watching him, Yeon-woo also moved busily.
He didn’t know what dish Jin Yu-han would present, but either way, if they wanted to fill their stomachs, they’d need to make rice, so shouldn’t he start the fire and wash the rice?
‘If we start preparing now, we’ll skip breakfast and eat lunch instead…’
As So-hyeon had hoped, making sashimi from one rockfish when there were five mouths to feed.
There wasn’t nearly enough to make sashimi.
Jin Yu-han probably knew that fact too.
He would make a dish with the rockfish that could serve as a side dish with rice.
While Yeon-woo was thinking this, Jin Yu-han came out of the kitchen, having apparently finished his assessment.
“I’ll stir-fry the webfoot octopus with spicy seasoning, and make sweet and sour rockfish. It’ll be a good combination where you can dip the sweet and sour fish in the spicy octopus stir-fry sauce.”
“Sweet and sour rockfish!”
“…Sweet and sour rockfish?”
Unlike Son Jin-wook who clapped his hands in delight upon hearing Jin Yu-han’s words, Han So-hyeon and An Jun-ho seemed unfamiliar with the dish called sweet and sour rockfish.
“What’s sweet and sour rockfish? Do you just debone the rockfish and fry it like sweet and sour pork?”
At So-hyeon’s question, Jin Yu-han took out a well-sharpened knife and answered with an expressionless face.
“It’s Chinese cuisine. You make cuts all over the rockfish and fry it whole.”
“Wow, sweet and sour rockfish is amazing. They only sell it at high-end Chinese restaurants in hotels, and when you tear off the tender fried flesh with a fork and eat it with soju, it’s just… ah!”
At Jin-wook’s reaction, So-hyeon shook her head.
“Jin-wook sunbae. Ever since you’ve been hanging around with Teacher Jeong lately, you seem to be becoming more and more like an old man.”
“Ahem, well I am an old man. I’m in my mid-thirties now too.”
Seeing this, Yeon-woo, who was washing rice, chuckled.
“You know that despite how he looks, when Jin-wook hyung films romance movies, he switches to romantic eyes, right?”
“Right, right! It’s really amazing.”
While they were chatting, Jin Yu-han came out of the kitchen carrying vegetables for the sweet and sour dish, frying powder, starch, and cooking oil.
Seeing this, Jin-wook naturally took his place in front of the fire pit.
“I’ll handle the fire.”
“Then I’ll go to the backyard and see if there are any vegetables suitable for wraps!”
Jin-wook and Jun-ho moved busily.
“Then while I’m washing the webfoot octopus, is there anyone who can help prepare the rockfish? It’s simpler than you’d think.”
At Jin Yu-han’s words, this time So-hyeon boldly raised her hand.
“It’s simple? Then I’ll try it! If I don’t do anything, I’ll feel like a freeloader!”
Seeing this, Yeon-woo tilted his head.
‘Hmm, the rockfish should still be alive though…?’
So-hyeon went to the rubber basin covered with a cloth and fearlessly grabbed the rockfish’s body.
Then the creature that had been lying quietly and gasping suddenly thrashed violently.
“Ahhh! It’s still alive?!”
Sure enough, So-hyeon screamed and put the rockfish back in the basin, backing away.
She must have thought it would have died naturally in the meantime since quite some time had passed.
While a minnow out of water might be different, large fish take a long time for their bodies to dry out, so they can survive quite a while with just the shallow water in a basin.
Seeing this, Yeon-woo shook his head and approached.
“So-hyeon noona, please take care of the rice. I’ll handle the preparation.”
Then Jin Yu-han handed the well-sharpened knife to Yeon-woo.
“First cut the windpipe, then slice open the belly to remove the innards, then you need to scale the surface.”
“Do I cut off the head?”
“No, you just need to make a thick L-shaped cut on the body, and I’ll handle that part once the prep work is done. For now, just pull out the innards.”
PD Joo Hyeon-seok, who was checking the conversation between the two captured on camera, shuddered.
“When the two of them talk with such serious faces, it’s like a brutal noir film.”
Hearing Producer Joo’s words, Yeon-woo chuckled, then grabbed the rockfish, placed it on the cutting board, and stabbed the knife into the gills, cutting the windpipe with smooth, unhesitating movements.
‘It’s better for both of us to end the suffering quickly in one go.’
Then with practiced movements, he sliced open the belly, removed the innards and gills inside, washed it with water, and began scraping off the scales.
Throughout this series of processes, Yeon-woo’s face remained expressionless and solemn.
Even though it was for cooking, he couldn’t joke around while holding a tool and ending a life.
And Jin Yu-han, who was preparing webfoot octopus and vegetables beside him, was always expressionless anyway.
The sight of two of South Korea’s most handsome actors concentrating solely on their knife work with expressionless faces was quite striking.
Seeing this, Producer Joo recalled the YouTube project that Yeon-woo had already marked.
‘This shot looks really good? Jin Yu-han’s cooking…’
However, Producer Joo’s project composition also included Yeon-woo, who was assisting with the cooking.
‘Ryu Yeon-woo and Jin Yu-han’s Chef Kitchen… This works. It’ll definitely be a hit.’
While the actual party involved, Jin Yu-han, was unaware, two projects were already being created.
And another thought began to take root in Producer Joo’s mind.
‘If I create projects using Saebyeol’s actors, there are endless programs that could work… If our studio signs an exclusive contract with Saebyeol or becomes a subsidiary…’
The synergy would definitely be better than operating independently now.
Thus, without Yeon-woo even knowing, he was getting one step closer to a major recruitment.
***
After the first week’s broadcast of “Parabola” was released, while it didn’t beat “Daytona” in viewership ratings, it was slightly ahead in the 2049 target demographic and rerun ratings.
Since the main viewing audience was young people, the frequency of mentions on SNS was also overwhelmingly higher.
And then the arrangement Yeon-woo had prepared in advance was activated.
“Director Yoon!”
“Yes?”
At Gong Min-jeong’s urgent voice calling her, Director Yoon Mi-yeon looked up.
“Was ‘Parabola’ scheduled to get Netflix’s main promotion? I haven’t heard anything about it, but right now our work is featured on the main page of both PC and mobile!”
“Huh? Really? This is the first I’m hearing of it too.”
Yoon Mi-yeon immediately accessed Netflix.
《 Netflix Drama “Parabola”
Youth · Suspenseful · Sports
[Play] [+My List] 》
Parabola’s poster was displayed prominently.
And it was the main banner on the main page.
“…Director. How did this happen? It’s not even a Netflix Original, yet they’re giving it main promotion like this.”
At Min-jeong’s question, Director Yoon Mi-yeon shook her head and answered.
“…To insert it this prominently, it would have to be a proposal from Netflix’s US headquarters, and realistically it would be more of an order than a proposal. Who could be the person capable of getting such major promotion from Netflix headquarters without even us knowing?”
“Actor Ryu…”
“That’s right. It can only be Actor Ryu. Sigh, he could have told us in advance.”
***
Meanwhile, Saebyeol wasn’t the only one who noticed Netflix’s main promotion.
Lake Film’s CEO Jung Yang-gi slammed his office desk hard.
Bang─.
“These damn…! So the promotion these bastards said was predetermined was for basketball nobodies? No, how much money did they stuff in there to get a non-Original on the main page?! These damn bastards already took everything they were going to take from me and then stab me in the back like this?!”
Jung Yang-gi raged, but there were no measures he could take.
Recently, as the status of OTT services grew higher day by day, no matter how much promotion the broadcasting station pushed, it couldn’t match the advertising effect that OTT platforms directly shot at viewers.
Then Jung Yang-gi’s phone rang.
Ring─.
Jung Yang-gi’s eyes widened when he checked the caller ID.
Then he immediately answered the phone and bowed his head slightly in respect.
“Ah, yes. I’ve answered. This is Jung Yang-gi.”
Then he kept bowing his head and repeatedly gave affirmative responses.
“Yes, yes. Ah, you don’t need to worry. Even though they’ve caught up quite a bit, we already took first place in viewership ratings with the first week’s broadcast. Yes.”
He said that, but Jung Yang-gi’s face already looked like he’d eaten shit.
“Yes, understood. Please come in!”
Soon after hanging up the phone, Jung Yang-gi threw his smartphone toward the sofa in the office.
“…Damn it.”
***
While Yeon-woo was focused on preparing the fish for sweet and sour rockfish, Kim Su-hyeok and Lee Kyu-jin were conducting surveillance in front of the secret workshop near Gimpo Airport, just like last time.
Then they saw a van stop near the work site.
“Team Leader.”
“Yeah, I see it.”
The door of the gray van opened, and they could see people getting out one by one with their arms restrained.
There were a total of four men getting out in a line, dressed in shabby clothes and wearing blindfolds over their faces.
And Kim Su-hyeok recognized one of their faces.
“The homeless man Lee Hyeong-rak.”
“So that’s our target.”
The target they had set to determine whether work had begun at the secret workshop was Lee Hyeong-rak, whom Kim Su-hyeok had discovered by infiltrating among the homeless, even going so far as to spray anchovy fish sauce on himself.
– Around late November, those people load them into a van and take them somewhere. Then they work at that factory all winter long, eating and sleeping there, and by the time spring comes around again, they let them go. They give them quite a bit of money too.
Kim Su-hyeok recalled what Lee Hyeong-rak had said.
According to his testimony, it meant they would work for at least 3-4 months after Lee Hyeong-rak joined.
Lee Kyu-jin used the camera in his hand to film Lee Hyeong-rak and the other homeless men entering the secret workshop with their eyes covered.
“Did you get it clearly?”
“Of course.”
“Okay. Let’s withdraw.”
The electric car parked in the alley picked up Kim Su-hyeok and Lee Kyu-jin and silently glided away.
***
After finishing preparing the rockfish and taking a brief rest in his room, Yeon-woo received a message.
– Lambda(λ) : Golf. Hotel. AM 11:42.
– Alpha Beta(αβ) : Confirmed.
Yeon-woo nodded after seeing the message.
Lambda. That is, the message sent by Kim Su-hyeok contained golf, hotel, and a time.
Of course, it wasn’t a suggestion to play golf at a hotel at that time.
In phonetic code, golf is G.
In other words, it refers to Gimpo, which they’re currently monitoring.
And hotel is H.
It refers to Homeless, meaning the target Lee Hyeong-rak had moved.
From the time they first discovered those bastards’ secret workshop in Gimpo, he hadn’t expected to catch their executives.
It would probably be organized in cells, and there was a high possibility that those who worked there, those who transported, and those who provided security wouldn’t know who they were working for.
They simply carry out orders from above and receive money.
This simple structure was the basic principle that moved countless criminal organizations.
Then what would be the method to inflict the greatest damage using this?
‘As expected, what those bastards value most. It’s money.’
He had waited until now to inflict the most financial damage.
Until the largest amount of drugs would gather at their secret workshop.
By now, countless fish would have entered the traps he had set in Gimpo early this year.
The time for harvest was approaching.
‘Yu-han is the chef of this island, but there’s a separate chef in the prosecution’s narcotics division.’
Yeon-woo sent a message to Han Hae-woon on his smartphone.
– It seems like it’s about time to boost ‘Pitbull’ Prosecutor Kwon’s performance once again.
– Han Hae-woon : Yes. We’re already prepared. We’re waiting for the right timing.
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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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