NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor - Chapter 86

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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 86. Name

When I brought the yellow document envelope home and opened it, a neatly written manuscript came out.

 

「Sketch」

 

A scenario with a simple title.

 

At first, I lay on the bed and started reading in a comfortable position.

Then, entering the middle part, questions arose in my head and before I knew it, Yeon-woo began sitting up to read.

And after reading the latter half, he fell into deep thought.

 

“···It’s really good.”

 

Reading the scenario, Yeon-woo once again confirmed the choice he had made today.

 

The scenario begins with a man named Jay who was adopted to America at age seven, resenting the parents and homeland that abandoned him.

 

The man who grew up happily in a harmonious white family had thus become completely American.

 

Jay, who started composing music in high school, receives an invitation from a Korean music label as a composer and is forced to set foot on the land where he was born again.

 

After that, depicting various twists and coincidental events, it’s a human documentary film that looks at Korea from the perspective of a man born in Korea but raised as an American, and it seemed to add charm with the music code that runs through the entire play and the final twist element.

 

“I don’t know what the director saw when he looked at me on screen, but···.”

 

Though the form and circumstances were all different, the protagonist who is Lee Ji-hoon and Jay Miller in the play had many similarities to himself.

 

Becoming an orphan at a young age, living in a foreign country for a long time, and being abandoned by his homeland were similar points.

 

Of course, it wasn’t being abandoned by the country, but in the play the protagonist was abandoned by his parents, while he was abandoned by some unknown organization.

 

Though their origins, processes, and lives were all different, Yeon-woo felt somehow drawn to the protagonist of the play.

 

“Hmm, come to think of it, this isn’t a problem that can be solved just because I like it.”

 

Since he was bound to an agency, it seemed coordination with LN Entertainment would be necessary.

 

Yeon-woo immediately called the person who could resolve this matter.

 

– Hmm. Yeon-woo. What’s the matter?

 

The voice of a middle-aged gentleman with a low-pitched tone coming from the phone receiver.

 

“CEO. I just had dinner with Director Park Chan-hong.”

 

After that, he explained the situation in a somewhat condensed manner.

Then CEO Kim Ju-seong spoke while laughing heartily.

 

– Then let’s do this. Actually, I’m in a supportive position, but since contract issues might arise later in the board of directors or audit, the company will pay twice the amount Yeon-woo is thinking of investing personally under Yeon-woo’s name. And let’s set the profit distribution ratio for that movie’s investment as 70% for Yeon-woo and 30% for the company.

 

At the unexpected proposal, Yeon-woo stroked his chin.

 

“With those conditions, the movie would need to earn at least three times the investment for the company not to lose money.”

– I believe it’s fully possible with Yeon-woo, aren’t you confident?

 

Yeon-woo chuckled at CEO Kim Ju-seong’s playfully provocative question.

 

“I was wondering if I should only give you 20%. Of course I’m confident.”

– Hahaha. I can’t match you.

 

CEO Kim Ju-seong laughed loudly at Yeon-woo’s words that turned the joke back on him.

 

“Thank you so much for taking care of various things.

– As I said before, I really love ‘acting’.

 

After that, he said he would have Team Leader Yoo, who handles contract-related matters, check the detailed contents, and hung up the phone.

 

Just then, a message came to Yeon-woo’s smartphone after he hung up.

 

– Team Leader Ryu. I have something to report. I’m in Incheon now, shall I give you a face-to-face report?

 

‘What’s in Incheon? He seems to go there often.’

 

Looking at the message that arrived to Han Hae-woon and tilting his head, Yeon-woo typed.

 

– Then let’s meet at that columbarium parking lot. If I leave now, it’ll take about an hour.

– Yes, understood.

 

After finishing the message, Yeon-woo put on his outer clothes, grabbed his car keys, and went outside.

 

As winter was approaching, the days were getting shorter and it was already getting dark.

 

 

Meanwhile, Han Hae-woon drove toward the columbarium parking lot where he was enshrined to meet Yeon-woo, after meeting with Jung Hye-min, who had been his wife in his previous life, in Incheon.

 

“Is this the right thing to do?”

 

Han Hae-woon sighed, thinking of Jung Hye-min whom he had just been meeting.

 

Since bringing her to the columbarium that time, they had become somewhat close and occasionally he would stop by on the pretext of work, saying he was passing by, to drink coffee or have conversations.

 

Jung Hye-min also didn’t dislike Han Hae-woon, perhaps due to some instinctive attraction, and as their relationship gradually became more intimate, Han Hae-woon’s worries only increased.

 

“···I miss Ha-yoon so much too, but I don’t have confidence.”

 

Thinking of his young daughter who was now old enough to attend daycare, Han Hae-woon scratched his head roughly in the driver’s seat.

 

Though he could see her if he secretly visited, he was deliberately suppressing it, afraid he might emotionally collapse when facing his young daughter.

 

***

 

As Yeon-woo drove into the parking lot, he could see Han Hae-woon, who had already arrived, smoking a cigarette in the corner.

 

Yeon-woo parked his car and approached Han Hae-woon.

Seeing Yeon-woo approaching, Han Hae-woon hurriedly threw away his cigarette and stomped it out with his foot.

 

“Did you always smoke?”

“I smoke in this life.”

 

Yeon-woo nodded, seeming to think about something after Han Hae-woon’s words.

 

“What do you have to report?”

“Yes, while investigating Plus Ten Entertainment, I got a lead from this ‘Park Kyung-wan’ incident and looked into the investment companies.”

 

Han Hae-woon took out documents in a white envelope from his suit’s inner pocket.

 

Yeon-woo received the documents and opened them.

 

“The investment companies listed in there seem to be the ones behind investing in 「Baldur」 and controlling the ‘Park Kyung-wan’ incident.”

 

Yeon-woo nodded while looking at the list.

 

“Then could you look into whether these people behind it have any connection with actor An Jun-ho? Do you have paper and pen?”

“Yes.”

 

When Han Hae-woon took out a notebook and pen from his jacket pocket and handed them to Yeon-woo, Yeon-woo wrote down several names and affiliations.

 

“These are journalists who used to collude with political and business figures to break stories when I worked in the domestic division. It’ll be easier if you investigate focusing on them.”

“Understood.”

 

Han Hae-woon took the notebook and nodded, then continued speaking.

 

“Oh, Team Leader. I discovered something interesting during my investigation. It’s about CEO Kim Ju-seong of LN Entertainment, your current agency.”

“Hmm? What about him?”

 

Curiosity appeared in Yeon-woo’s eyes as Kim Ju-seong’s name came up, having just finished a phone call with him.

 

“It seems there were numerous covert operations against 「Stars Beyond Garam」 besides ‘Park Kyung-wan’, like trying to publish malicious articles based on groundless rumors. Anyway, CEO Kim Ju-seong cut off all those attempts midway. He seems to be quite an influential figure in the entertainment industry.”

“Hmm. Really?”

 

Yeon-woo stroked his chin, organizing his thoughts, then looked at Han Hae-woon’s face and tilted his head.

 

“But is something wrong with you? Your face is full of worry. Is the investigation difficult?”

“Me?”

 

At Yeon-woo’s words, Han Hae-woon touched his cheek and let out a deep sigh.

 

“···I think it’s because of connections from my past life. I’ve been meeting my wife occasionally these days.”

 

Once he started sharing his concerns, Han Hae-woon began talking while sighing deeply.

After all, who else besides Ryu Yeon-woo would listen to his troubles that were premised on the absurd story of reincarnation?

 

Yeon-woo, who had been silently nodding and listening to the story, opened his mouth.

 

“The Baek Yu-hyeon I remember from our past life didn’t smoke. He said he had to run 1 second faster and 1 minute longer to survive.”

“But I smoke in this current life.”

 

Han Hae-woon chuckled softly at Yeon-woo’s seemingly random comment, as if he remembered it too.

Then Yeon-woo asked Han Hae-woon.

 

“Then are you Baek Yu-hyeon or Han Hae-woon right now?”

 

As Han Hae-woon couldn’t respond to the sudden question, Yeon-woo continued.

 

“As I said in the underground parking garage of the National Theater where we met again, I am Ryu Yeon-woo. Jeon Su-hwan from my past life is dead. If you want to meet your wife from your past life, it’s not Baek Yu-hyeon who wants to meet her, but Han Hae-woon. Do what you want to do now, Han Hae-woon.”

 

Han Hae-woon quietly looked at the person who was patting his shoulder while speaking.

 

This wasn’t the scary special agent who seemed like an emotionless fighting machine from his past life.

Standing before him was just an ordinary college student.

Just excessively handsome.

 

“···I think I’m Han Hae-woon. No, I am Han Hae-woon.”

 

Han Hae-woon nodded and pondered over what Yeon-woo had said.

 

***

 

Two weeks passed quickly.

 

During that time, they also formally signed the contract related to Director Park Chan-hong’s 「Sketch」.

 

A budget of 4.5 billion won was allocated, combining Director Park’s 3 billion and the 1.5 billion paid by the agency under Yeon-woo’s name.

 

On average, movie production costs nowadays easily exceed 10 billion won in market scale, and Director Park Chan-hong, the king of commercial films, had mainly directed blockbusters exceeding 20 billion won.

 

Director Park Chan-hong, who had never worried about money while filming movies except in his early days, racked his brains trying to devise direction that would be as cheap as possible yet plausible, but far from being tormented, he found it extremely fun.

 

While Director Park Chan-hong was making such plans, 「Stars Beyond Garam」 aired for two weeks and raced toward its final episode, episode 16.

 

The still cuts released along with Son Jin-wook’s surprise appearance spread like wallpaper across internet communities, attracting even young viewers who don’t usually watch live broadcasts.

 

It started with a delusional post by a netizen who shared the still cut.

 

– Which of these three would you date?.jpg

 

A single still cut that perfectly captured the charm of three currently hot actors quickly began spreading like a meme.

The photo circulated through communities as a legendary meme image, perhaps because they were the male leads of the biggest hit dramas and movies of the past three years, each with distinctly different charms and no similar features.

 

It became even more famous as fans approached influencers and celebrities with this photo asking about their preferences, and the viewership ratings of 「Stars Beyond Garam」 soared high for both live broadcasts and reruns.

 

The talent agency also read this trend and recommended that they temporarily hold off on the commercial film contracts Yeon-woo had selected and wait for his market value to rise even higher.

 

At twenty years old in winter, he was still just an actor with a filmography of only two dramas and two movies, and he still had a long way to go.

 

But now the name ‘Ryu Yeon-woo’ was beginning to carry some weight as an actor.

 

– You can come down now, sir.

“Yes, Min-su hyung, I’ll be right down.”

 

And today, Yeon-woo was attending his second wrap party ever.

This time, Yeon-woo opened the door and left home, finishing the drama not as a supporting lead but as the main character.

 

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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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