NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 50

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

Episode 50. Camping and Friends (1)

“Get in, little sister.”

“Whoa. You bought it? You’re killing it.”

 

So-hyeon climbed in without hesitation, as if it had been her car all along.

 

“Guys, I’m leaving first! Let’s continue talking on chat. Driver Ryu, close the door.”

“What? Driver Ryu?”

 

Seeing Ryu So-hyeon’s innocent expression, Yeon-woo realized she was joking and closed the door with a laugh.

 

“So-hyeon’s friends, get home safely.”

“Yes, oppa.”

“Amazing.”

 

Yeon-woo opened the driver’s door and got in the car, and the red sports car departed with the sound of its exhaust.

 

Meanwhile, the delinquent friends who had been standing slack-jawed in shock at the corner of the parking lot looked at each other and could only mutter “Is this for real?”

 

Yeon-woo’s car smoothly headed straight home without any traffic.

 

“Ooh. Oppa, you know how to drive?”

“Yeah. I practiced.”

 

For about 20 years?

 

***

 

After spending two days with his family at home, Yeon-woo drove back to Seoul.

 

Just as he arrived in Seoul, parked, and was about to enter his officetel, Yeon-woo’s smartphone rang.

 

Bzzzz—.

 

‘Hm? Ma Seok-do sunbae?’

 

Yeon-woo looked at the name on his smartphone and answered the call.

 

“Yes, Seok-do hyung.”

– Oh. Yeon-woo, are you resting well?

“Haha. Yes. I went down to my parents’ house and just got back to Seoul.”

– Oh really? Do you happen to like camping?

 

Yeon-woo tilted his head at the unexpected topic.

 

“Camping?”

 

Would digging trenches and enduring a week in the mangrove forest to monitor the illegal weapons trade activities of Myanmar’s ethnic minority independence army count as camping?

 

Making fires when cold, getting bitten by mosquitoes, sleeping in the rain – it was roughly similar.

 

After pondering this random thought, Yeon-woo answered.

 

“Hmm, I think I’ve done something similar a few times.”

– I have a hobby of going camping the day before when I have outdoor shoots. I called to ask if you’d like to come along if you’re bored. It’s absolutely not pressure though.

 

Seok-do had grown much closer to Yeon-woo while filming this movie.

Though he said it wasn’t pressure, his voice carried hopeful expectation.

 

“Sounds good. Let’s go have a drink, hyung.”

– Really? Kahahat. Great. Then I’ll bring the full set. What’s your address?”

“If you send me the address, I’ll come to your place, hyung. Should I park there and we’ll take your car?”

 

Yeon-woo hung up and got back in his car to head to the address he’d received.

 

Before leaving, he called Min-su.

 

“Ah, Min-su hyung. I’m going with Ma sunbae today…”

– Yes, sir. Then I’ll come pick you up at that address at the right time tomorrow.

 

After hanging up, Yeon-woo drove toward Seok-do’s house.

 

 

Seok-do warmly greeted Yeon-woo in front of his house when he arrived.

 

After parking Yeon-woo’s car, they got into Seok-do’s car together.

 

The back seat and car trunk were packed with camping equipment.

 

“Wow, is all this camping equipment?”

“I just always keep it loaded. I go camping whenever I get the chance.”

 

Seok-do seemed extremely excited about going camping with Yeon-woo.

 

“You drive this car too, hyung. Jin-wook hyung has the same car.”

“Son Jin-wook? Well, a lot of celebrities do drive them.”

 

Seok-do smiled as he shifted gears, and the car headed toward a camping place in Incheon.

 

After Ma Seok-do had been driving toward Incheon for a while, he asked Yeon-woo.

 

“Yeon-woo, have you ever done SNS live streaming?”

“Live streaming? No! I only created my SNS recently.”

“Really? When I go camping, I sometimes turn it on to communicate with fans. How about it?”

 

Yeon-woo had been feeling that he wasn’t uploading much to SNS and lacked communication with fans due to his busy filming schedule lately.

 

“Hmm, I’m good with it. Communicating with fans is really important.”

 

These are people who support and love his acting unconditionally, without any conditions.

 

“Then since I haven’t tried it before, I’ll appear naturally when you turn it on, hyung.”

“Alright. That sounds fun. We’re going to grill some galbi in the evening, so we can turn it on then.”

 

After hearing Seok-do’s words, Yeon-woo accessed the fan cafe on his smartphone and began writing his first post.

 

‘Hmm, this should be enough, right?’

 

A post about going camping with senior Ma Seok-do and deciding to communicate with fans through an SNS broadcast starting around dinner time.

 

The fan cafe went into chaos over the first post ever uploaded by the ‘[Administrator] Ryu Yeon-woo’ account – the actor’s own account since the cafe’s creation.

 

And it was even an SNS live preview announcement.

 

“Phew, we’ve arrived.”

“Is this the place, hyung?”

 

Yeon-woo and Ma Seok-do opened the car doors and got out in the parking lot.

 

“Now, we need to move our luggage to the deck, where’s the luggage cart…”

“Ah, there it is.”

 

Yeon-woo ran quickly toward one side of the parking lot.

 

He came back pulling two large camping trailers, one in each hand.

 

“Hey, those are heavy, aren’t they?”

 

Ma Seok-do, who was organizing the trunk luggage, ran over after seeing Yeon-woo.

 

“It’s okay, Seok-do hyung.”

 

Though Yeon-woo tried to stop him, they amicably shared one each and pulled them together.

 

“What should we take out? We’re not using everything, right?”

 

When Yeon-woo asked in bewilderment at the camping equipment filling the back seat and trunk, Ma Seok-do answered.

 

“Hmm, we could use everything if we wanted to. Let’s just carry the essentials first and take out more if we need them later.”

 

Seok-do opened the trunk and handed items to Yeon-woo, who received them and loaded them into the camping trailer.

 

“I think this is enough?”

 

Thud—.

 

Ma Seok-do closed the trunk.

Watching this scene, Yeon-woo was reminded of a particular scene and grinned as he delivered a line.

 

“Who is it? Did someone door-ding this?”

 

He was reminded of a scene from the early part of Master Plan.

 

“Ah, the trunk. The trunk.”

 

Seok-do’s cheeky response came right back, making both of them burst into laughter.

 

Certainly, Yeon-woo had become brighter and a bit more mischievous since taking on the role of Pierre Choi.

 

***

 

The man sitting in the head seat spoke in a metallic voice.

 

“The business world seems pretty ineffective these days.”

 

The man sitting in front of him bowed his head.

 

“I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s not good to always have ‘sorry’ stuck to your lips.”

 

The man silently bowed his head upon hearing those words.

 

“Try bringing up some new kids. There’s nothing better than that for running the washing machine with senile old folks.”

“Yes. I understand.

 

The man who had been giving the report stood up from his seat, opened the door and left, then took out his notebook and made phone calls somewhere in the order written down.

 

 

Meanwhile, at a corporate building in Gangnam.

Plus Ten Entertainment CEO Office.

 

“Yes, I understand. Yes, yes. I’ll look into it.”

 

A man with a heavily furrowed face answered the phone, continuously saying he understood.

 

Unlike his deeply frowning face, his tone was endlessly servile and polite.

 

Click—.

 

“Damn it, hah. I should never have set foot in this side of things. Shit.”

 

As soon as he hung up, the man roughly threw his smartphone onto the sofa.

 

The name plate read ‘Plus Ten Entertainment CEO Byeon Hak-gyu.’

 

Beep—.

 

– CEO, Jung Su-yeon is here.

 

“Tell him to come in.”

 

Creak―.

 

With the sound of the door, Jung Su-yeon entered the CEO Office.

 

“CEO-nim. Hello.”

“Oh, come here and sit down.”

 

He gestured while picking up the Smartphone he had carelessly thrown on the sofa.

 

As soon as Jung Su-yeon sat down, CEO Byeon got straight to the point.

 

After listening to his lengthy explanation, Jung Su-yeon’s face hardened.

 

“···So, you’re telling me to provide entertainment services?”

“No, where did this kid learn such bad words to speak like that? I just explained everything continuously. It’s not entertainment services, but just a good gathering for friendship purposes, you know? They’re all people who will help your acting career.”

 

Jung Su-yeon stood up from the sofa with a coldly hardened expression.

 

“···I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. CEO-nim. I’m sorry.”

“This kid, I haven’t even finished talking, do you think you can succeed without this kind of thing? You ignore me because everyone else ignores me too?!”

 

CEO Byeon, who had been heated since taking the phone call, cowardly vented his anger on Su-yeon when things didn’t go his way.

 

Then Jung Su-yeon glared at Byeon Hak-gyu.

Tears welled up in Su-yeon’s eyes.

 

“I kept hoping it wouldn’t be true. Even when I heard what Ju-young unnie said two years ago, grabbing onto me as a high school student to complain, I only half-listened.”

“What?”

 

CEO Byeon’s eyes widened when the name of the aspiring actress he had tried to connect as a sponsor to high-ranking officials came up.

 

“···Still, it was a Company I’d been with for several years since I was young, and you were the CEO who told me to call you uncle since I was a child actor.”

 

Jung Su-yeon shed tears while glaring fiercely.

 

“I really didn’t know you would do this as if you’d been waiting for me to become an adult.”

 

As soon as she finished speaking, Jung Su-yeon immediately turned around and walked toward the CEO Office door.

She staggered slightly as if her strength had left her.

 

“You little bitch. After I raised you up, you come out like this?! You have over 2 years left on your contract. During that time, you’ll have no career. You know? What’s so hard about going to have a drink?”

 

At CEO Byeon’s desperate shouting from behind, Jung Su-yeon bit her lips tightly.

 

“···It won’t end with just one drink. If that’s the kind of dirty career I’d build, I won’t be an actress.”

 

Bang―.

 

Su-yeon, who came out after slamming the door hard, bowed her head to the secretary who was startled by the commotion.

 

“You were startled. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, no, it’s okay.”

 

A tear dropped from her bowed head.

She left the Entertainment Company building without any regrets.

 

“Haah···.”

 

Su-yeon let out a sigh.

 

Feeling like tears would burst out if she stood still somewhere, she walked aimlessly.

 

Kim Ju-young, a fellow aspiring actress from the same Company who was tight-lipped and trustworthy, with only herself around.

 

Whenever she grabbed onto Jung Su-yeon, who was a high school student at the time, to vent her frustrations, Su-yeon had thought that such a day might come to her someday too.

 

‘I wanted to establish my position as an actress a bit more when I was a minor that the Company couldn’t touch.’

 

When she sensed her failure at the ‘Summer’s Closet’ audition, was that why her face was so dark when leaving the Audition Hall?

 

Although she had shown good performances as a child actor in various movies, she was just a child actor. Her only representative work was a web drama that was only somewhat known among students.

 

Of course, not all of the entertainment industry is like this, but Su-yeon thinks she got the first button wrong from the start.

 

Her Parents would obviously become a Sea of tears from sadness, so she couldn’t even complain to them, and having lived in society since she was young, Su-yeon didn’t have a single friend to open her heart to and share her inner thoughts.

 

“Is that why Ju-young unnie grabbed onto me like that too?”

 

When she was young, if someone bullied her, there were her Parents as a reliable presence she could rely on.

 

Starting her social life, she gradually felt that the society surrounding her had grown too large for her Parents’ protection to handle, and she had become accustomed to curling up on her own.

 

While taking care of her wounded heart, sometimes she felt proud thinking it was her own way of growing, but on days like today, she felt so lonely and sad that she wanted to pour out her worries to someone but couldn’t.

Sitting at the subway station, endlessly scrolling through the Contact List on her Smartphone.

 

It’s quite funny that there are so many ‘friends’ added to her Smartphone, but there’s no one to actually contact.

 

Her pale, slender finger that had been scrolling aimlessly for a long time stopped.

 

Feeling like the world surrounding her was shaking completely, it was an action she would never normally do, but worry bloomed in her heart.

 

‘We’re not even that close. It would be ridiculous···?’

 

Of course, she wasn’t hoping for something to be resolved.

She just felt that if she could share even a little of her current story with someone, that alone would make her feel better.

 

After wavering for a long time, she seemed to gather courage, clenched her mouth shut, and pressed the Call Button.

 

***

 

Ryu Yeon-woo and Ma Seok-do were resting and feeling the breeze after carrying all the camping equipment and setting up only their portable chairs.

 

Sitting in the gentle swaying wind, drowsiness seemed to be creeping in before they knew it.

 

Next to Yeon-woo, Ma Seok-do had already fallen into a light sleep.

 

Bzzzz—.

 

Just then, Yeon-woo’s smartphone rang.

 

‘Hmm?’

 

It was his friend Jung Su-yeon, who only occasionally exchanged KakaoTalk messages with him.

A call had come from the friend he had never once talked to on the phone since they exchanged numbers.

 

‘What could this be about?’

 

Though puzzled, he answered the phone for now.

 

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