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Chapter 210: Set Up

For actors who were profitable merely by their association, the company usually made concessions.

In the case of top-tier actors like Sung Ho-Jun, he could easily request to change his managing division as he wished.

\'Of course, I need to become indispensable to Sung Ho-Jun for that to happen,\' I thought.

But that was something I was confident in. After all, I knew everything about Sung Ho-Jun\'s future through my planner.

Lee Gi-Cheol burst into a hearty laugh as he began to support Kim Dong-Soo.

"Ha ha ha! It\'s been a while since Chief Kim hit a home run. If a big fish like Sung Ho-Jun joins our company, we\'d welcome him with both arms. Maybe we should even throw a welcome party!"

Kang Ji-Yung nodded in agreement. "We should. Let\'s have Actor Division 3 plan it."

Lee Gi-Cheol smirked. "Ha ha ha. It\'s been a while since the Director Kang and I thought alike. This is excellent. Ah, yes. if only every day could be like today."

Kim Dong-Soo gladly accepted the suggestion. "Then we in Actor Division 3 will modestly prepare a party to welcome the actor. I\'ll report back as soon as the other two actors are also confirmed to join our company."

"Got it."

Only then did Kim Dong-Soo look at me smugly with a satisfied expression.

"Alright then. Team Lead Jung, let\'s go back to Haru and discuss how much we\'re going to push him. Continue the briefing, will you?"

Hiding my intent to recruit Sung Ho-Jun, I continued the briefing.

I nodded. "Yes, Mr. Kim."

As we discussed how to push Haru forward, Actor Division 3\'s faces brightened as they were unaware of what was to come.

****

Gu Seong-Cheol spoke with a troubled expression in Kang Ji-Yung\'s office. "Director Kang, if two more actors of Sung Ho-Jun\'s caliber were to join, it\'d probably be Choi Sung-Rak or Park Hee-Tae, right? Their contracts are up soon."

A list of top stars nearing contract renewal was a staple for any sizable company.

Kang Ji-Yung\'s expression turned grave as she thoroughly reviewed the candidate list.

"That seems very likely. Chief Kim wouldn\'t be so confident otherwise," Kang Ji-Yung remarked.

"Well, we can\'t just sit back and watch. Shouldn\'t we expand our recruitment efforts?" Gu Seong-Cheol asked with a concerned look on his face.

Kang Ji-Yung let out a deep sigh. "Sunbae, Actor Division 2 has almost exhausted its budget bringing in Mr. Park Eun-Sung and Mr. Jang Jun-Hyuk."

"W-well, yes, I know that. That\'s why I suggest we might need to dip into next year\'s budget a bit early..." Gu Seong-Cheol said with hesitation.

But Kang Ji-Yung shook her head decisively. "Let\'s not rush into doing anything. Just one mistake is enough to give Director Lee Gi-Cheol an excuse to criticize us."

Gu Seong-Cheol leaned back on the sofa helplessly. "Sigh. Just when I thought our division was making headway, here comes a big snag."

Yet I couldn\'t help but smile despite the serious conversation.

"Why are you smiling like that, Team Lead Jung?" Gu Seong-Cheol asked with a frown.

"Oh, I just thought Chief Kim seemed a bit desperate," I replied.

Gu Seong-Cheol scratched his head. "Chief Kim looked desperate? What do you mean?"

"Chief Kim Dong-Soo would scoff at anything related to Actor Division 2 until now. Didn\'t he?" I elaborated.

"Well, that may be, but..."

"But this time, he seemed to be bragging to us as if to show off."

In my past life, Gu Seong-Cheol would always return from team lead-level meetings red-faced because Kim Dong-Soo, a junior far behind in experience, often outperformed him in terms of results.

For that reason, the talent agents of Actor Division 2 avoided talking to Gu Seong-Cheol on days when there was a meeting for team leads and above.

At that moment, Kang Ji-Yung burst out laughing. "True. After all, Actor Division 2 is now strong enough to compete with Division 3. Mr. Jang Jun-Hyuk\'s return to activity will ensure we don\'t fall behind."

Gu Seong-Cheol scratched his head in disbelief. "They say you can\'t remember being a tadpole once you\'re a frog... I guess that\'s me. Ha ha."

The mood lightened as Gu Seong-Cheol laughed.

I smiled and said, "Well, I should get going now. I need to prepare for tomorrow\'s acting sessions and there\'s a lot to arrange."

At that moment, Kang Ji-Yung asked me. "Hold on. How\'s the preparation for Miss Kang Ha-Na going?"

"The song preparation is complete and we only need to shoot the music video now. We\'re currently looking for an editor for our MeTube channel," I updated.

"Seems like everything is progressing well there too. But I heard the budget has been tight lately. You\'re spending only 30 million won for the music video?" Kang Ji-Yung asked.

I nodded. "Yes, but that should be sufficient. We are intentionally shooting with a low budget."

Even in my past life, Kang Ha-Na\'s low-budget video had become a hit. Therefore I had instructed the staff to shoot the music video in a way that maximized that feel.

"Got it. I\'m sure you will handle it well, Team Lead Jung, but please double-check to make sure nothing is missing."

"Yes, Ms. Kang."

After finishing my updates on Kang Ha-Na, I left the director\'s office.

Yet I had disclosed nothing to the two about Sung Ho-Jun.

That matter had to be handled discreetly.

***

Sung Ho-Jun\'s current talent agent was his younger brother, Sung Yung-Jun.

Sung Yung-Jun was a 25-year-old former athlete whom you could meet through just a few connections.

I planned to use Sung Yung-Jun to create a link with Sung Ho-Jun to bring him to Actor Division 2.

\'Wow. It feels strange to meet Ho-Jun hyung again...\' I remarked inwardly.

No one in this world knew what kind of movies Sung Ho-Jun liked and which directors and styles he preferred better than I did. Moreover, I knew better than anyone which movies would make him thrive and which would lead to failure, because those details were all recorded in my planner.

[Everyday V10.1]

[Date: August 15, 2020]

-03:00 p.m. Actor Division 3, Lee Deok-Hyung\'s audition for Director Lee Han-Soo\'s <Divine Punishment> (Report: Sung Ho-Jun attended the main audition. It seems unlikely that Lee Deok-Hyung will be chosen.)

[Everyday V10.1]

[Date: November 22, 2020]

-12:00 p.m. <Divine Punishment> starring Sung Ho-Jun. Box office 700,000. Screen out.

At that time, top star Sung Ho-Jun had appeared on the set when I had taken Lee Deok-Hyung from Actor Division 3 to the audition for Divine Punishment.

That\'s when Lee Deok-Hyung and the other auditionees had half-given up on the audition because they simply couldn\'t compare to Sung Ho-Jun in terms of acting skills or popularity.

But Divine Punishment encountered countless production difficulties and faced a dismal failure against Beyond the Boundaries

despite being a major production with a budget of 15 billion won.

\'I should help him avoid Divine Punishment and draw his interest elsewhere,\' I thought.

That\'s when Lee Yung-Jin who had returned from an external assignment asked, "Mr. Jung, what are you looking at that makes you smile like that?"

I answered calmly, "I just couldn\'t help smiling because Haru landed the lead role."

"Makes sense. A lead role right at debut, huh? Plus, a fee of 2.5 million won per episode? Wow, that\'s just incredible!" Lee Yung-Jin exclaimed.

"Why the sudden flattery today? Did you do something wrong?" I replied cautiously.

Lee Yung-Jin dodged the question. Clearly, that look in his eyes meant he had forgotten to do something.

But there was something more important than that.

I updated Lee Yung-Jin on today\'s events. "Oh, and in today\'s meeting, there was talk about Sung Ho-Jun coming to our company."

From the moment I decided to promote Lee Yung-Jin to assistant manager, I shared information from team lead-level meetings with him.

At that moment, Lee Yung-Jin looked surprised at the unexpected news.

"Ho-Jun hyung is coming to our company? Wow, no one told me about that. I should give him a call," Lee Yung-Jin replied with his eyebrows raised.

"Wait, what? You call him Ho-Jun hyung? Are you close with Mr. Sung Ho-Jun?" I asked.

I had never imagined Lee Yung-Jin would be acquainted with Sung Ho-Jun.

Although we joined the company around the same time, we were both too busy to have such conversations in my past life.

Lee Yung-Jin scratched his head and replied, "Yes. Well, to be exact, I\'m close with Yung-Jun, Ho-Jun hyung\'s younger brother."

"Really? How did you become friends? Are you school alumni or something?"

"No, I got to know Yung-Jun through a bowling club for talent agents. We got so close that I sometimes hang out at their place."

Lee Yung-Jin grumbled about not hearing the news despite being friends with Sung Yung-Jun.

This was an unexpected gain. I began to think that maybe I could accelerate the process of bringing Sung Ho-Jun to my team.

"Could you introduce me to Sung Yung-Jun?" I asked.

Lee Yung-Jin glanced at me sideways. "Don\'t tell me..."

"What?"

"You\'re not planning to bring Ho-Jun hyung over to Actor Division 2, are you?"

"Shh! Keep it down." I hushed him as I looked around cautiously.

Lee Yung-Jin\'s eyes widened in shock. "Mr. Jung, even so, that’s..."

I nodded. "I know. But I\'m not trying to force him over or anything. It\'s about building relationships in advance. That way, he might naturally come over to our side. Right?"

"Wow, that\'s brilliant. But Mr. Jung. Wouldn\'t Actor Division 3 fight us to the death over this?"

"They already picked a fight with us when they tried to intercept Mr. Jang Jun-Hyuk. Besides, they’re probably targeting our actors now too."

Lee Yung-Jin hesitated for a moment but then nodded. "That makes sense. If it’s Actor Division 3, they would definitely do that. Our actors in Division 2 are too loyal to you to be swayed though."

"Just casually drop my name to Mr. Sung Ho-Jun. Make it so that he comes to me," I said.

"Got it. I’ll meet with Yung-Jun often and set something up."

"Okay. But this stays between us, okay?"

Lee Yung-Jin nodded. "Of course."

But in the midst of talking with Lee Yung-Jin, I realized he was surprisingly well-connected in the industry.

"By the way, it looks like you’ve got quite the network. How many talent agents gather at these bowling meetups?" I asked.

Lee Yung-Jin thought for a second and replied, "It varies, but sometimes up to 30 people. It’s more of a drinking session under the guise of bowling. Oh, and I also attend pool and cycling groups."

"What?" I uttered in surprise.

"Why are you so surprised? I’ve been going for a while now."

To be honest, I couldn’t believe it. It was hard enough with just the talent agent duties, let alone having time for such gatherings.

An idea came to my mind. "Then do you think you could also get information on Choi Sung-Rak and Park Hee-Tae?"

"Should be possible," Lee Yung-Jin replied casually.

Seeing Lee Yung-Jin’s confident demeanor reminded me of his mother—Mrs. Yoo Jin-Sil, the queen of insurance sales in Gangnam.

Lee Yung-Jin’s personality surely came from his mother as did his negotiation skills.

"But you know this can’t be settled with just a bowl of eel rice, right?" Lee Yung-Jin said with a smirk.

"Huh?"

"You aren’t planning to exploit me for free, are you? This is considered extra work and overtime," Lee Yung-Jin lamented.

"Then what do you suggest?" I asked.

"You need to make an offer. That way, I’d be motivated to move."

Lee Yung-Jin hinted that he wanted me to treat him to something tasty.

"...Pork ribs?" I suggested.

Lee Yung-Jin frowned. "Wow, that\'s really cheap of you. I\'m not doing it!"

Lee Yung-Jin stomped his feet and threw a tantrum like a mischievous five-year-old in a supermarket as he leaned back in his chair, shaking his arms and legs.

Regardless of who was at fault, I felt an urge to give him a noogie. But I managed to resist the devil\'s temptation and exclaimed.

"Hanwoo?" I suggested it again.

Suddenly, Lee Yung-Jin straightened up and looked at me.

"Deal!" Lee Yung-Jin exclaimed.

\'At this rate, I might end up supporting all the Hanwoo farms in South Korea,\' I remarked inwardly.

It seemed like hanging around with Do Ran-Hee made everyone have the habit of mentioning Hanwoo.

But getting the scoop from talent agents was a significant gain in itself.

"Don’t hang around Do Ran-Hee anymore!" I exclaimed.

However, Lee Yung-Jin just grinned and didn’t respond.

***

On the spread-out floor seating in front of the third-floor rooftop room, we celebrated Haru’s confirmed role in Master of Mukbang alongside Jung In-Ji, Yoo-Jin, and Miso while cooking seafood pancakes.

"Congratulations, Haru!"

"Haru is a lead actor now, huh?"

"Congrats, Haru oppa!"

Ever since moving in, the usual gathering place had been the living room on the first floor when a TV was needed. But otherwise, it was always the third floor.

Haru bowed his head as if he was shy. "Thank you. I\'ll do my best."

"I\'ll definitely watch it live."

We continued the celebration as we shared seafood pancakes and cola cider amid cheers.

But at that moment, Miso clapped her hands and exclaimed while eating the seafood pancake, "Uncle Yoon-Ho! When will you get me on a Mukbang show?"

Previously, Miso had shifted her interest to appearing on a Mukbang show after requesting to be on a drawing TV program. But the appointment fell through because the producer at the time decided to feature his own daughter instead.

Thankfully, Lee Ji-Yeon had secured the role of Cheongmyung for Miso, so she hadn\'t mentioned the Mukbang show again. But it seemed like Miso had managed to recall it again.

\'As expected of Miso. She has such a good memory,\' I observed silently.

"Uncle Yoon-Ho, I even bought spoons and chopsticks to go on Mukbang!" Miso exclaimed.

\'She bought spoons and chopsticks for a Mukbang?\' I wondered.

The moment Miso looked at me with hopeful eyes, I started to sweat without realizing it.

That\'s when someone who could solve this situation flashed into my mind.