NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 307
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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 307. Special Agent and Cat
The next morning, Yeon-woo woke up feeling hungover and sat at the edge of his bed, clutching his dizzy head.
“Ugh… Do Teacher Jeong Cheol-min and Jin-wook hyung always drink like this? At this rate, there won’t be any brain cells left.”
After staggering up to take a shower, his young body seemed to recover from the hangover quite well.
Buzz─.
Just then, his smartphone rang and he saw a report had arrived from Han Hae-woon.
– Han Hae-woon: I’ve completed the background check on reporter Kim Jun-kyung and the two National Tax Service personnel you mentioned.
Attachment: Investigation Report on Kim Jun-kyung and 2 Others.pdf
– Good work.
After sending a reply to Han Hae-woon, he sat down on the sofa, moistened his throat with bottled water, and checked the attached file.
“Hmm…”
Reading the report, Yeon-woo stroked his chin as if lost in thought.
‘They’ve dug deeper than I expected.’
According to the report, reporter Kim Jun-kyung and the other two people were walking a precarious tightrope.
Of course, they probably didn’t know it themselves…
‘If they dig just a little deeper than this, they might reach other money laundering companies operated by Baek Sol.’
The problem was that reporter Kim Jun-kyung and his collaborators at the National Tax Service didn’t accurately grasp who they were dealing with.
The route they were investigating was information that Yeon-woo and other agents had already mostly figured out, so for now, it would be more harmful if they dug deeper and caught Baek Sol’s attention.
‘Of course, their lives could be in danger, so we should protect them from a humanitarian standpoint, but Kim Jun-kyung and the other two are people who will be useful in various ways for dealing with Baek Sol in the future.’
Just as they had built lines over decades, Yeon-woo and the agents also needed to establish lines in all sectors to deal with them.
The prosecution, where Han Hae-woon belonged, had been mostly figured out.
Who were Baek Sol’s collaborators, and who were the honest people.
Through the Gimpo incident, they had clearly confirmed that Pitbull Kwon Chang-jung and his legal family had no connection to Baek Sol.
And in the business world, they had confirmed through LN’s management dispute and the subsequent marketing contract signing that Baek Sol’s influence hadn’t reached at least Ihan Group and SL Group.
They would need to get a clearer grasp of other fields in the future, but this time was an opportunity to create a filter for screening public officials and journalists.
‘Of course, those Baek Sol guys have probably built their own lines using a carrot-and-stick strategy, mixing financial rewards, drug provision, and appropriate threats…’
Yeon-woo and the agents had no intention of choosing such methods.
Was it because that wasn’t justice?
Of course not for such a grandiose and stale reason.
‘Carrot and stick inevitably creates cracks in relationships if not provided continuously, and even if provided continuously, it becomes dulled over time.’
Therefore, gathering people required a value that seemed even more old-fashioned and childish than justice itself.
‘That’s exactly a sense of mission.’
The fact that not only Yeon-woo and Han Hae-woon, but also Kim Su-hyeok, Lee Kyu-jin, and Park Jung-hyeon devoted their whole bodies to unite their will, knowing that their lives could be in danger at times, was actually motivated by nothing other than that old-fashioned and childish reason.
‘Investigation and Analysis Division Chief Yu Do-hyun, Inspection Officer Oh Young-jin, and reporter Kim Jun-kyung.’
It was necessary to find out how much resolve they had in investigating Baek Sol’s background.
Whether they were truly people who could continue together in the future.
***
As time passed, “Parabola” dealt with content where Yeon-woo and other members, who had truly become a team, practiced basketball for the competition.
For episode 6’s ratings, “Daytona” showed its underlying strength as a terrestrial broadcast with a huge production budget, so they couldn’t create a big gap, and “Parabola” had to be satisfied with a narrow lead of 1 percentage point.
And as time passed, after signing the ambassador contracts, the first schedule approached.
As discussed previously, they simultaneously signed contracts with two companies – fashion brand Armand and watch brand Capela – and domestic and international media naturally made headlines of this mouth-watering news.
– ‘Ryu Yeon-woo’ receives pouring love calls from the fashion world. Simultaneously selected as ambassador for Armand and Capela.
– From [Capela’s] muse and ambassador Hirose Tsukasa to Ryu Yeon-woo, who were the previous Asian models throughout history.
– Actor ‘Ryu Yeon-woo’ who global luxury brands fell in love with signs global fashion ambassador contract with Armand, first in Asia.
Heading to the filming set, Yeon-woo looked through the articles in Kim Min-su’s car, then glanced at Lee Ye-eun sitting next to him.
Her face was completely flushed and she looked excited.
“Sister, are you that happy?”
When Yeon-woo asked, Lee Ye-eun made an expression as if asking why he was asking something so obvious.
“Of course! It’s Armand! And first in Asia at that!”
Seeing Lee Ye-eun clenching her fists while talking, Yeon-woo smiled slightly.
Yeon-woo had never been particularly interested in fashion from the beginning, and had simply chosen the proposal lightly with the intention of raising scores in the overseas recognition category that would be reflected in corporate evaluations, but for Lee Ye-eun, who majored in fashion, it apparently didn’t have such light meaning.
“I even did a presentation on the life of Armand Jean Duplessis, the founder of Armand, as a college assignment! To think you’re an ambassador for such a brand—this is amazing.”
Seeing Ye-eun’s excited state, Yeon-woo scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile.
‘They’ve been making offers since a year ago and kept waiting… If I knew she’d be this happy, maybe I should have accepted earlier.’
While having these thoughts, Kim Min-su’s car entered a studio in Paju.
After parking and getting out of the car, they followed the guide staff into the large factory-style studio interior, where Armand officials walked over to greet Yeon-woo.
“Whoa… They’re all foreigners.”
At Ye-eun’s voice, Yeon-woo smiled broadly.
“Looking at their appearance, most of them seem to be French.”
Then Ye-eun tilted her head.
“Huh? What’s different about how French people look?”
“Well… They tend to be neatly handsome. Less greasy than Italians.”
“Come on, what’s that supposed to mean? Then are you French too, Yeon-woo?”
“…”
Just as Westerners have trouble distinguishing the appearances of the three Northeast Asian countries—Korea, China, and Japan—Asians also struggle to catch the appearance differences among Europeans based on nationality.
Of course, Europe has many immigrants and races have been mixed for a long time, but after living there for over ten years, there were subtle appearance characteristics that could be felt from each country.
Meanwhile, an official who had approached extended his hand in greeting.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Ryu. We’ve been sending love letters for a long time, and I’m happy we finally got together like this. I’m Vincent Clerc, Armand’s chief designer.”
It was English, but the French accent remained strong.
Yeon-woo also smiled and grasped the approaching man’s hand to respond.
Of course, in French.
“I’m delighted to meet you too. I’m an outsider to fashion, so I’ve never taken on any brand ambassadorship until now, but I thought I’d like to try it if it’s Armand.”
It was diplomatic rhetoric with a conciliatory speaking technique forged through years in European social culture.
Though it was lip service, the corners of Vincent Clerc’s mouth turned up.
And then he belatedly realized that the language he heard was his native French.
“…Oh? You speak French? No, it’s not just speaking—your pronunciation was perfect…?”
Then Yeon-woo answered with a bright smile.
“Isn’t French the language of fashion? I should know at least this much to collaborate with Armand.”
Of course, he learned it not as the language of fashion but as the language of diplomacy.
In fact, French is used more than English in some ways in Europe.
This trend has grown even stronger since England left the EU with Brexit.
In his previous life, he was a shadow diplomat, so knowing French was natural.
“Haha, Mr. Ryu really knows how to make people feel good. I saw in your profile that you’re fluent in English, German, and even Italian, and I thought you were Hermes rather than human, but you can speak French too.”
At Vincent Clerc’s words, Yeon-woo smiled lightly.
In Roman mythology, Hermes is the messenger god, so he also governs language.
Seeing him make comparisons to gods, Vincent clearly liked Yeon-woo.
“Not at all. My German and Italian are shallow—I can barely manage simple interviews or given acting roles.”
Indeed, his German and Italian weren’t that fluent, and French was much more familiar to him.
Then Yeon-woo noticed Ye-eun fidgeting beside him.
She whispered to Yeon-woo.
“Yeon-woo, is that person Vincent Clerc? I’m sure he said that during your conversation just now.”
“That’s right. He said his name was Vincent Clerc.”
Hearing Yeon-woo’s words, Ye-eun’s eyes grew as big as marbles.
“Gasp! I’m your big fan! Really!”
When Ye-eun spoke with classic K-pronunciation like reading from a textbook, Vincent Clerc smiled.
“Oh, Really? Thank you.”
Watching this scene, Yeon-woo nodded.
‘Come to think of it, he introduced himself as the chief designer. She must be a real fan.’
He could feel that Ye-eun, who had a confident personality and never backed down anywhere, was nervous.
Yeon-woo briefly introduced Ye-eun to Vincent Clerc.
“She’s my dedicated stylist. Her skills are quite exceptional.”
“Oh, I see. I saw several of your photos in your profile—were they all this young lady’s work?”
Then Ye-eun, who had tactfully understood they were talking about her, opened her mouth.
“My, my name is Lee Ye-eun!”
“Meow? That’s a cute name. Nice to meet you.”
“Ah, no, not meow…”
***
Until the very end, Vincent Clerc couldn’t distinguish the difference between ‘Lee Ye-eun’ and ‘Ya-ong’.
The photo shoot began like that, and exclamations of admiration flowed throughout the filming set at the naturally emerging stylish poses.
“Whoa, this actor really knows how to use his body well. Simply striking a pose and using your body well are completely different matters, but it feels like watching an active fashion model.”
At the photographer’s words, Vincent Clerc, who was standing beside him watching the results on the monitor, also nodded his head.
“I’ve hardly ever used Asian models, but he suits it surprisingly well.”
However, in Vincent Clerc’s eyes, there was something like a 2 percent sense of regret lingering.
Of course, it wasn’t regret about Yeon-woo’s visuals or poses at all.
Rather, it felt like cooking with good ingredients was turning out too ordinary.
And there was another person who felt such emotions.
Ya-ong, no, Lee Ye-eun also felt something lacking while watching Yeon-woo shooting the photo spread.
In a way, it was Ye-eun who knew everything about Yeon-woo’s style and every corner of his body.
‘Ah!’
As if Ye-eun remembered something, she immediately got the car keys from Kim Min-su and ran to the parking lot.
And a few minutes later, she returned after taking out an item from a box that was in the corner of the trunk.
Watching such Ye-eun, Kim Min-su tilted his head.
“What did you bring?”
“This!”
What Ye-eun then pulled out from her arms was the prop gun that Kim Min-su had obtained by thoroughly searching through claw machine arcades in downtown Paju during the filming of 「Master Plan」 several years ago.
Coincidentally, today’s filming location was also Paju, just like back then.
Ye-eun approached Vincent Clerc and the photographer with that prop gun.
“Uh, excuse me.”
“Oh, Miss Ya-ong.”
“007! James Bond! (Have you seen Survival Island? If he takes photos with this gun, he’ll suit it well like James Bond.)”
Ye-eun managed to convey countless stories compressed into just two words.
She felt regret that she should have learned some English earlier.
Then she held out the prop gun with sparkling eyes.
As if pleading for them to use it.
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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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