Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All

Honorary Chairman Kim Bu-Ho, visibly furious, came striding toward me with his cane. "How dare you... How dare you throw my daughter into prison?"

At that moment, Vice Chairman Kim Ae-Ryeon stepped in front of me. "Dad. I'll explain everything in detail, so please calm down first."

Kim Bu-Ho glared at Kim Ae-Ryeon. "I'm disappointed in you too! Ae-Ja is your own flesh and blood! She is your own sister! And you let her end up behind those cold bars? You heartless girl!"

"Dad, will you at least hear the whole story first? Do you even know what unnie did to end up in prison?"

Former Vice Chairman Kim Ae-Ja had been arrested after indulging in drugs with the models and actors she sponsored, following my report. However, Daechon Inc.—or more precisely, the secretary's office serving Kim Ae-Ja—had gone to great lengths to cover up her crimes. At the time, they spent enormous sums of money to persuade the actors involved in the drug use to give false testimony.

As a result, Kim Ae-Ja had ultimately been imprisoned not as a drug offender, but as an ordinary financial criminal, serving a one-year sentence.

Yet Kim Bu-Ho knew none of that and continued shouting in anger. "No matter what she did, this bastard is the one who had my eldest daughter arrested! And you're an accomplice too, Ae-Ryeon!"

At those words, Kim Ae-Ryeon finally exploded. "Dad! Unnie is nothing but a man-crazy addict! Do you have any idea how many male models she's touched and sponsored? I never said anything before, but half the work handled by Daechon Inc.'s secretary's office was finding advertising models for her and cleaning up the shady messes that followed!"

At that moment, shocked by what he had just heard, Kim Bu-Ho raised his cane high. "Y-you little... How dare you make up lies and slander your sister like this?"

Afraid Kim Ae-Ryeon might get hurt, I quickly grabbed her shoulder and spun her behind me. Yet the cane never came down on my back. Wondering what was happening, I turned around.

Kim Bu-Ho stood there trembling with the cane raised, unable to bring it down. For all his faults, he doted on his daughters. When the moment came to actually strike Kim Ae-Ryeon, he simply couldn't do it. After hesitating with the cane raised, he finally lowered it.

Tap.

"Huff, huff..." Kim Bu-Ho breathed heavily.

Seeing that, I gently moved Kim Ae-Ryeon farther back. "Ma'am. I'll explain everything myself."

Kim Ae-Ryeon shook her head. "No. This is a family matter, so I'll handle it."

"No. This all started because Mrs. Kim Ae-Ja targeted Tae-Poong. I'll take care of it."

Since this confrontation had been inevitable, I had already prepared for it. Once I made that clear, Kim Ae-Ryeon shot her father a hard look before stepping back. Only then did I face Kim Bu-Ho directly.

"Mr. Chairman."

After catching his breath, Kim Bu-Ho glared at me. "Fine. Let's hear your excuse. If you start spouting nonsense, though, I'll make you pay dearly."

After imprisoning Kim Ae-Ja, I slowly spoke the words I had been holding back all this time.

"If Vice Chairman Kim Ae-Ja had remained in that position, Daechon would have collapsed."

"Daechon... collapsed?"

The anger vanished from Kim Bu-Ho's face, replaced by confusion.

***

Kim Bu-Ho was known throughout the business world as a devoted father to his daughters. He often said that the greatest treasures he possessed were his two daughters. Yet there was one thing he valued even more than them—Daechon Inc. itself.

Before the regression, Kim Bu-Ho had never interfered in the management dispute between his two beloved daughters. However, there had been only one exception. It was when the two of them had tried to split Daechon Inc. in half.

At the time, Kim Bu-Ho gave a famous interview. He placed a small axe on the table and declared that if they ever tried to divide the company, they should first split their father's body with the axe and divide that among themselves. The charisma he displayed while holding that axe had been so overwhelming that neither Kim Ae-Ja nor Kim Ae-Ryeon ever brought up splitting the company again.

I had seen that future. That was why I knew Kim Bu-Ho treasured Daechon Inc. even more than his two daughters. So I warned him that if Kim Ae-Ja had remained vice chairman, the thing he cherished most would have been destroyed. That was Daechon Inc., his very alter ego.

The flustered Kim Bu-Ho shouted as if he couldn't believe it. "Ae-Ja was an excellent manager. Why would Daechon collapse? And you're telling me Daechon would be shaken because my daughter was fooling around with models and actors? That's ridiculous!"

"No. If Mrs. Kim Ae-Ja had continued wielding absolute authority from that position... I would have brought Daechon down."

Kim Bu-Ho stared at me in disbelief. "You? Bring down Daechon?"

"Yes. Former Vice Chairman Kim Ae-Ja tried every possible method to get her hands on Lee Tae-Poong. I would have done everything possible to stop her. If she hadn't gone to prison, I would've carried out my plan to destroy Daechon in retaliation."

"You little bastard... I've praised you so much that you've become unbearably arrogant. You think you could bring down my Daechon?"

"I'm the one tightening the noose around HK Inc., the twelfth-largest conglomerate in the country. Do you really think I couldn't take down Daechon, which ranks even lower?"

"How dare you..."

The ferocity in Kim Bu-Ho's gaze weakened. After all, I was the man who had sent HK Inc.'s third and fourth sons to prison one after another. Even if it took time, he could no longer dismiss the possibility outright.

However, the immature Sung Joon-Sang saw things differently. "Daechon gets taken down by a nobody talent agent like you? Wow, this asshole's completely lost it. Hey, do chaebols look that easy to you? Huh?"

I shrugged and said, "Chaebols aren't easy. You, on the other hand, look pretty easy."

Sung Joon-Sang's face twisted with rage as he clenched his fist and marched toward me. "You little—"

That was when Kim Bu-Ho's thunderous voice echoed through the room. "Sung Joon-Sang. This doesn't concern you!"

Sung Joon-Sang protested as he continued forward. "Grandpa! Guys like him need to be stomped into the ground! That's the only way he'll never dare mention Daechon's name again!"

"Be quiet!"

Sung Joon-Sang lowered his raised hand, trembling with frustration. He looked disappointed. But honestly, I was the disappointed one. If he had actually laid a hand on me, I could have left him rolling on the floor.

'Sung Joon-Sang. You should know you're alive today because of your grandfather.'

Kim Bu-Ho sharply turned his head and looked at me again. "Fine. With your determination and your abilities, perhaps bringing down a Daechon run by Ae-Ja wouldn't have been impossible. I'll give you that. But do you really think I would've stood by and watched? I'm the true owner of Daechon."

The man who had started Daechon Trading Company with a single employee in a tiny shop and built it into a conglomerate employing hundreds of thousands was telling me things would have been different if he stepped in personally. Even if Kim Ae-Ja had fallen, he believed he would have stopped the damage himself.

However, I answered calmly. "No. You would've had no choice but to watch."

"Why are you so confident?"

"Because I would've detonated a bomb connected to you, Mr. Chairman. If that happened, Daechon would never have escaped the turmoil. No—it would've been torn to pieces."

When I said Daechon Inc. would have been split into dozens of fragments and effectively dismantled, Kim Bu-Ho's voice rose once more. "What could possibly make you so confident? Go on, tell me!"

"Then make your decision first. Will you join hands with me?" I met his gaze directly. "Or will you cast me aside?"

I had never intended to gently persuade Kim Bu-Ho in the first place. After all, the royal families of conglomerates were the kind of people who stepped on anyone who appeared weak. So I leveraged my informational advantage and forced Kim Bu-Ho to make a choice. If he intended to hold me accountable for sending Kim Ae-Ja to prison, then I would destroy Daechon even now. If not, I would continue supporting Kim Ae-Ryeon as I had been doing.

Kim Bu-Ho began to deliberate. After all, Daechon Inc.'s ranking had recently risen thanks to how often Kim Ae-Ryeon and I worked together.

Sensing a glimmer of hope in his hesitation, I casually added another proposal to bring Daechon Inc. over to my side. "And this is a separate offer. If you join hands with me, I'll crush HK Inc. and place Daechon in its position."

That was when Sung Joon-Sang finally snapped. "Grandpa! Do you actually believe a mere talent agent can destroy Daechon and bring down HK Inc.? This is ridiculous! And that bastard is the one who sent my mother to prison! You should be punishing him!"

At that moment, Kim Bu-Ho finished making his decision and issued an order to his chief secretary. "Chief Go. Throw that fool out."

"Yes, Mr. Chairman."

Chief Secretary Go Dong-Han nodded and grabbed Sung Joon-Sang by the arm. "This way, please."

"You bastard! Let go of me! Let go!"

Then Kim Bu-Ho's thunderous voice echoed through the office. "Was my order to leave unclear to you?"

Sung Joon-Sang trembled under his grandfather's roar before finally storming out.

Bang!

The office door slammed shut.

After calming himself slightly, Kim Bu-Ho spoke. "Sigh... Fine. Chief Jung. If the bomb you mentioned truly has the power to blow Daechon apart, then I'll consider everything you've done as if it never happened. But if it doesn't... you'd better be prepared. Not only you, but everyone helping you will be crushed!"

At that moment, I met Kim Bu-Ho's sharp gaze and finally spoke the magic words I had kept buried inside for so long. "Ciel Bleu."

The reaction was immediate. Kim Bu-Ho was so shocked that his entire body began trembling.

"How...How do you know about that place...?"

***

When Kim Bu-Ho remained frozen in silence for a long while, Kim Ae-Ryeon finally asked, "Ciel Bleu means 'blue sky' in French... Dad, what does that have to do with you?"

Kim Bu-Ho became visibly flustered, struggling to find an answer. Because Ciel Bleu was the name of an art gallery and café in Yangpyeong managed by his second wife—a woman who was not listed anywhere on his family registry. It was such a closely guarded secret that even his daughter, Kim Ae-Ryeon, knew nothing about it.

After the death of his first wife, Kim Bu-Ho had begun a relationship with Hong So-Yong, the president of the present-day Ciel Bleu Gallery. Since Hong So-Yong had also lost her husband, the two had quickly grown close while comforting each other through their grief. Afterward, Kim Bu-Ho treated her as if she were his second wife and entrusted her with managing his slush funds.

As a result, Ciel Bleu had become the place where Daechon Inc.'s secret funds were managed and where bribes were funneled to politicians all in complete secrecy. It was secret enough that even Kim Ae-Ryeon remained unaware.

"How did you... learn about that place?" asked Kim Bu-Ho.

'How do you think?'

Before the regression, I happened to visit it with Choi Man-Sik and Kim Dong-Soo and overheard Choi Man-Sik talking about it.

"Do you admit it now?" I held his gaze. "That I'm holding a bomb in my hands?"

Stagger.

Kim Bu-Ho swayed as though he might collapse. I immediately reached out and caught him before he could fall.

Kim Bu-Ho accepted my support and let out a long sigh. "So it really was true... Daechon's lifeline had been in your hands all along..."

Thud.

Kim Bu-Ho sank onto the sofa. In an instant, he looked as though he had aged several years.

Speaking in a weary voice, he said, "You're right... What you hold isn't a bomb. No, it's a nuclear bomb. Something capable of severing Daechon's very lifeline..."

"Then..."

"Fine. As long as I'm alive, Daechon Inc. will not treat Jung Yoon-Ho as an enemy."

At last, a problem that had plagued me for so long was finally resolved.

***

Watching Kim Bu-Ho release a deep sigh, Kim Ae-Ryeon walked over and took his hand. "Dad, I'm sorry. I never wanted to fight unnie over management rights, but I couldn't stand by and watch her tarnish Daechon's name."

Kim Bu-Ho slowly nodded. "I understand."

"So you're forgiving Chief Jung now, right?"

"What forgiveness is there to give? At this point, I'm the one who ought to be grabbing his pant leg and begging."

Kim Ae-Ryeon turned toward me. "Chief Jung. We're still moving forward together, right?"

"Of course."

"Then I don't know what this Ciel Bleu is, but bury it forever."

"Don't worry." I then addressed Kim Bu-Ho. "And Mr. Chairman, it would be best if you stopped using that place for the things you've been doing."

"Why? Aren't we on the same side now?"

"Vice Chairman Kim Ae-Ja has been investigating it."

Before the regression, Kim Ae-Ja had discovered Kim Bu-Ho's weakness and demanded that he back her as the next chairman. At the time, Kim Bu-Ho had already anticipated his daughter's ambitions and prepared countermeasures, so nothing had come of it.

However, one thing remained true. Kim Ae-Ja had been tracking Ciel Bleu.

Kim Bu-Ho's eyes widened. "Ae-Ja knows about Ciel Bleu?"

"Yes. She's been digging into your affairs for a long time."

"That girl dared..."

The mixture of anger and disappointment was evident on his face as he fell silent in thought. A short while later, Kim Bu-Ho released another long sigh and looked at Kim Ae-Ryeon.

"Ae-Ryeon."

"Yes, Dad."

"The chairman's seat is vacant. You take it."

After Chairman Sung Hak-Soo had left Daechon Inc., the position of chairman had remained empty. Yet at this very moment, its next owner had been decided.

"Not my husband... but me?"

"That's right. From now on, you'll become Daechon's next owner. Join hands with Chief Jung and soar."

Kim Ae-Ryeon's entire body trembled with excitement. The throne she had dreamed of for so long was finally within reach.

Then Kim Bu-Ho added one more thing. "And... Ae-Ja is scheduled to be released through a special pardon on Memorial Day. So establish your position as quickly as possible before then."

"Unnie's getting a special pardon?"

"Yes. Even with her current holdings, Ae-Ja will have more than enough influence to shake your position. It won't be easy, but you'll have to endure it."

"I understand." Kim Ae-Ryeon bit her lip firmly before turning to me. "Chief Jung. I'll increase Hoop Entertainment's model fees by fifty percent across the board, so help me out. Jung Yoo-Jin, Lee Tae-Poong, Jung Miso, and even Jang So-Yeon—all of them. And we're moving up the launch of the new brand. Oh, and I'm using Ju Yung-In as a model too!"

At the end of May, SBC's Land of Happiness written by Writer Lee Ji-Yeon, and KBC's weekend drama Haze would begin airing. Kim Ae-Ryeon intended to use every actor appearing in those productions as advertising models.

The reason Kim Ae-Ja was moving so aggressively was simple. Once she took the chairman's seat, she needed results. Only then could no one challenge her position.

Understanding her intentions, I immediately agreed to support the plan. "Understood. I'll do everything I can to help."

"Good. Then let's put together a plan and meet again soon."

"Yes, ma'am."

Just then, my phone vibrated.

Buzz.

I glanced down and saw a call from the security team waiting in the alley outside the house.

[Caller ID: Team Lead Oh Ill-Seop of the Cheonho-dong Night Security Team]

After briefly excusing myself, I answered.

"Yes, Mr. Oh."

-Mr. Jung. We're in the alley at Cheonho-dong right now, and Sung Joon-Sang from Daechon Inc. is here causing a scene and demanding to be let in. Could you come as soon as possible?

It looked like Sung Joon-Sang had gone to see Yoo-Jin after being thrown out of the chairman's office. And the security team was understandably uncomfortable dealing with a third-generation chaebol heir.

"I'm in Samseong-dong right now, but I'll head over immediately. Hold him off somehow until I get there!"

After ending the call, I jumped to my feet. "Sung Joon-Sang took advantage of my absence and went to Yoo-Jin's house. I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll be able to let him leave quietly."

Kim Ae-Ryeon, now the future chairman of Daechon Inc., spoke up. "Hurry over there and stomp him into the ground. Don't worry about what comes afterward. I'll handle everything."

Kim Bu-Ho nodded as well. "Ae-Ryeon is Daechon's next owner. From now on, you can consider her words the same as mine."

Having made his decision, Kim Bu-Ho was now fully backing Kim Ae-Ryeon as the next chairman.

"Thank you!"

While Sung Joon-Sang had rushed off to use Yoo-Jin for his own purposes, I had just stripped away the biggest source of his support. Which meant that from this point on, I could deal with him however I pleased.

'Sung Joon-Sang. You're finished today!'