Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All

Broken porcelain from the dish Jung In-Ji had dropped was scattered all across the kitchen floor.

Still, she paid no attention to it and asked again in a trembling voice, "Miso, you just... what did you say?"

Miso looked worried as she asked back, "What do you mean?"

"The lines you just recited. What were they?"

"They're lines from the role I'm playing. The role of Yoon Kkot-Nim. But Grandma, don't move."

"Yoon Kkot-Nim? The role you got this time is named Yoon Kkot-Nim?"

Miso answered with a troubled expression. "Yes. Grandma, don't move. Please!"

"H-how... how... that's impossible... how could..."

Jung In-Ji fell into confusion, muttering to herself. Watching her tremble, the words from Everyday came back to me once more.

'Fate is closer than you think...Then could she actually be Yoon Na-Ra?'

It wasn't unusual for adopted children to end up with different names. And now that I looked closely, the face in the photo of Yoon Na-Ra did resemble Jung In-Ji. Still, there was one major problem. The age on her resident registration didn't match.

According to her records, Jung In-Ji was sixty-three this year. Yoon Na-Ra, who had been seventeen forty years ago, should have been fifty-seven now. That was a six-year difference. No matter how young Writer Lee Ji-Yeon had been back then, there was no way she could mistake her older sister's age by that much.

And most importantly, a twenty-three-year-old couldn't have ended up in an orphanage in the first place.

'Could it be the story of someone she knew?'

The thought suddenly crossed my mind, but that wasn't what mattered right now. Jung In-Ji, someone precious to me too, was moving toward us like someone possessed.

"Kkot-Nim..."

"Wait! Don't move!" At the same time, I ran to the side of the living room, grabbed a pair of slippers, and hurried back to her. "Put these on first."

As Jung In-Ji grabbed my shoulder and lifted her feet, she started to speak. "Chief Jung. I..."

"Just a moment. Catch your breath first, and let's sit down and talk slowly. We're not going anywhere."

After helping Jung In-Ji into the slippers, I vacuumed the floor and cleaned up the larger pieces of broken porcelain.

"Okay, let's talk now."

Jung In-Ji grabbed onto me and asked, "Chief Jung. Can you tell me why Writer Lee Ji-Yeon used the name Yoon Kkot-Nim? No, more than that, how did she repeat exactly what Yoon Kkot-Nim said back then? Did she hear about it? Please tell me."

"Mrs. Lee Ji-Yeon's real name is Yoon Kkot-Nim. She said it was her name before she was adopted. That's why she's trying to turn her story into a drama this time. She said she's doing it to find her older sister named Yoon Na-Ra."

"That's... impossible... Kkot-Nim... Kkot-Nim... is Writer Lee Ji-Yeon..."

At that moment, Jung In-Ji, who had been muttering to herself, suddenly lost consciousness and toppled sideways.

Sway.

"Ma'am!"

I quickly reached out and managed to stop her from hitting the floor.

Thud.

I laid her down in the living room first before rubbing her hands and feet. "Ma'am! Please wake up!"

Miso rushed over as well and started rubbing Jung In-Ji's left hand. "Grandma! Grandma! Don't dieee!!"

Miso burst into tears and desperately rubbed Jung In-Ji's hand with her tiny little fingers. I rubbed Jung In-Ji's hand with one hand while pulling out my phone to call 119.

Right then, Jung In-Ji quickly started regaining consciousness.

Twitch. Twitch.

"Ugh..."

Miso looked at me and shouted urgently, "Uncle Yoon-Ho! Grandma's alive!!"

"Yes, Miso. Keep rubbing her hand."

"Okay!"

Miso squeezed and rubbed Jung In-Ji's hand even harder with her tiny fingers. I set my phone down for the moment and spoke to Jung In-Ji.

"...Chief Jung?"

"Yes. I'm right here. Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. I'm fine now."

Even though her face was still pale, Jung In-Ji struggled to sit up. Still, her limbs seemed stiff as if she couldn't move them properly.

I quickly supported her back and helped her sit up before continuing to rub her hands. "You're clearly not okay, so let's go to the hospital first."

"No. I'm fine. I was just shocked... too shocked, that's all. More importantly, what do you mean Writer Lee Ji-Yeon's real name is Kkot-Nim? How can that be? Kkot-Nim couldn't use her legs, so how could she..."

Questions poured out of Jung In-Ji like a storm. Still, judging by the fact that she fainted just from hearing Yoon Kkot-Nim's identity, she really did seem to be Yoon Kkot-Nim's older sister, Yoon Na-Ra.

But if I asked directly, it felt like something truly serious might happen, so I turned to Miso instead. "Miso. Can you go into Grandma's room and bring the liquid Woohwang Cheongsimhwan?"

"Okay!"

"And while you're at it, turn off the induction stove in the kitchen too."

"Got it."

Even while crying, Miso bravely got up and hurried into the kitchen first.

Beep.

After turning off the induction stove with a touch, Miso energetically ran to her grandmother's room next. Since I had shown Miso where the Woohwang Cheongsimhwan was kept in case Jung In-Ji ever got sick, she found it immediately and came back.

"Uncle Yoon-Ho. Here!"

As soon as I opened the cap on the liquid Woohwang Cheongsimhwan Miso brought back, the strong scent hit my nose. I immediately brought it to Jung In-Ji's lips.

"Just in case, only drink half. And if you don't feel better afterward, we're going straight to the hospital."

I tilted the liquid medicine toward Jung In-Ji's mouth.

Gulp. Gulp.

After taking two mouthfuls, she pushed the bottle away, insisting she was fine now. "That's enough. I'm okay. Really."

Seeing color quickly return to her face, I finally let out a sigh of relief. Now it was time to find out why she had collapsed.

"Do you... know Ms. Yoon Na-Ra?"

Jung In-Ji nodded frantically. "Yes. I'm Na-Ra. Yoon Na-Ra! That's my real name."

"What?"

The shocking revelation left me speechless.

Miso, sitting beside me, had even started hiccuping. "Hic. Hic. Grandma is... hic... the older sister? Hic."

In the end, I handed the remaining Woohwang Cheongsimhwan to Miso and told her to drink just one sip.

Gulp.

Miso took one sip, then I emptied the rest myself. Only then did my wildly racing heart calm down a little.

"Phew... The older sister that Mrs. Lee was searching for is you, ma'am? But how is that even possible? You're sixty-three this year."

Jung In-Ji was a kind and gentle woman who volunteered everywhere, helped those in need, and took in Yoo-Jin and Miso after they lost their family in a car accident. There was no way someone like her would lie.

Still, since I had promised Lee Ji-Yeon that I would find her older sister, I needed to make absolutely certain. At that, a single tear rolled down Jung In-Ji's cheek.

"I lied..."

"Pardon?"

"I needed money if I wanted to keep searching for Kkot-Nim, but I was still a minor, so I couldn't get a proper job. So I wore heavy makeup and added six years to my age so I could work. Back then, if you were too young and had no parents, people looked down on you badly, so I exaggerated it a bit. Then the owner of the shop I worked at noticed me, and I ended up being adopted as her daughter. After that, when I got a new resident registration card issued, I started living under the name Jung In-Ji from then on."

Apparently, the couple who owned the bakery where she had worked part-time were quite wealthy. The husband had been a district mayor, while the wife owned both the bakery and several buildings. After losing their only daughter in a car accident, the couple had decided to take in the polite and hardworking Jung In-Ji as their adopted daughter.

At that time, Jung In-Ji had confessed everything about her past to them, but the couple said they didn't care and adopted her as their daughter anyway, even creating a new identity for her. It had apparently been possible because this was forty years ago, before computers existed.

Only then did I finally understand why there was a six-year discrepancy in her resident registration age. Still, I wanted to confirm it one more time, so I asked a question that only the real Yoon Na-Ra would know.

"Then could you tell me the names of all the Yoon siblings? And do you remember what you gave Kkot-Nim before you separated?"

Jung In-Ji nodded and answered. "The second child was Yoon Sang-Woo, and the child who was Kkot-Nim's twin was Yoon Na-Bi. The four of us were siblings. And before I separated from Kkot-Nim, I gave her a pair of red patent leather flower-patterned shoes."

Thump.

Even after drinking the Woohwang Cheongsimhwan, it felt like my heart dropped. Because it was so unbelievable, I pulled out my phone with trembling hands. Then I opened the photo of Yoon Na-Ra that I had taken in Busan. On my screen, Yoon Na-Ra stood with her hands clasped together, wearing a bittersweet smile.

"You're saying this person is you?" I asked.

Jung In-Ji pulled out her own phone with shaking hands. Then she showed me a photo saved on it. In the picture, a younger Jung In-Ji in her twenties stood beside her brightly smiling husband with a stiff expression on her face.

And that woman was the exact same person on my phone screen.

"I should've... shown you sooner, Chief Jung... I should've shown you long ago..."

Jung In-Ji had never shown a single photo from her past. She always said she didn't have good memories and never spoke about her old life either. That was why it had taken us until now to finally reunite them. Jung In-Ji was Lee Ji-Yeon's older sister, the very person she had spent forty years searching for.

Just like Everyday had said, fate really had been close by.

***

I fully accepted that Jung In-Ji was Yoon Na-Ra.

Then Jung In-Ji asked, "Chief Jung. How can Writer Lee Ji-Yeon really be Kkot-Nim? Kkot-Nim couldn't move her legs and had to use a wheelchair."

"After she was adopted, her adoptive parents cared for her devotedly and she recovered. And now... she walks just fine. No, she runs around."

"Kkot-Nim walks? She runs? Hahahaha. Kkot-Nim can walk..."

Tears streamed down Jung In-Ji's smiling face. More than the joy of finally reuniting with the younger sister she hadn't seen in forty years, she was happy that Lee Ji-Yeon could walk again. In that case, I should give her even more good news.

"And we found the other two siblings as well. Apparently, they're searching for you from America right now."

"You found Sang-Woo and Na-Bi too? Really?"

"Yes. Mrs. Lee Ji-Yeon found them."

"That's wonderful. Even Sang-Woo and Na-Bi... Really? Ha... I can die without regrets now. Thank you, Chief Jung."

At that moment, Miso shook her head furiously beside us and wailed, "Grandma! You can't die! Don't say things like you're gonna dieee!!"

"Oh dear. I misspoke. I won't die. I'll watch Miso grow up and get married, and then I'll di—... no. I'll stay with you forever."

Miso threw herself into Jung In-Ji's arms. "Yeah. You have to live a long, long time! Forever!"

"Alright, forever."

Maybe Miso's shouting had helped, because Jung In-Ji finally regained her composure and spoke to me.

"Then... could I perhaps meet Kkot-Nim? No, Writer Lee Ji-Yeon? Ah, but maybe she wouldn't want to see me? If she wrote something like that in the script, then maybe she still hates me..."

"No. Those lines were written because the writer regrets saying such cruel things to her older sister. And she even personally asked me to find you for her."

"Really?"

"Yes. I'll contact her right now and tell her to come immediately."

Growing impatient, Jung In-Ji tried to stand up while still hugging Miso. "No. I'll go. I'm the one who'll go."

"Please calm down. I'll take you there."

I gently moved Miso aside and helped Jung In-Ji to her feet. Still, Jung In-Ji hurried into the master bedroom.

"Wait a second. I need to grab something."

I wondered what she was trying to get when a car pulled up outside the house. Just as I was wondering who could be arriving at this hour, the front door burst open and Yoo-Jin came running in.

"Huff, huff. Oppa. The noodles didn't get all soggy, right?"

"Huh? Why are you here?"

"Huh? Didn't you get the Kk Talk message Miso sent?"

Miso suddenly realized something and shot her hand into the air. "Ah, right. I forgot because I was practicing the script. Uncle Yoon-Ho. Mom's coming too. Because of singing practice tomorrow."

'Miso...That's a little late to mention.'

I shook my head toward Yoo-Jin. "No, we're not eating noodles today. More importantly, Yoo-Jin. We need to go to Mrs. Lee Ji-Yeon's house right now."

"Why?"

"Mrs. Jung is Mrs. Lee Ji-Yeon's real older sister. She was Yoon Na-Ra, the person we've been searching for this whole time."

"What? No way. How is that even possible?"

"It is possible. So hold on a second. I need to call her."

I immediately called Lee Ji-Yeon. Lee Ji-Yeon answered in a cheerful voice.

-Yoon-Ho. The script's going well, so don't worry and—

"Mrs. Lee. Where are you right now?"

-At home. But why does your voice sound so shaky?

"We found her!"

-What?

"We found your older sister, Yoon Na-Ra!"

At that moment, silence filled the line. Remembering how Jung In-Ji had collapsed earlier, fear suddenly gripped me.

"Mrs. Lee! Are you alright?"

-W-where? So where's my sister?

Lee Ji-Yeon's voice was trembling wildly too.

"We found her at our house."

-What?

"Our landlady, Mrs. Jung In-Ji... Her real name was Yoon Na-Ra."

-What? But she's in her sixties. How could she possibly be my sister?

Lee Ji-Yeon and Jung In-Ji had never once seen each other face-to-face. Still, through Miso, she at least knew that she was a kind landlady in her sixties. That was why she couldn't believe it.

"She said she had no choice but to lie about her age. We already confirmed everything, and she knew all about Yoon Sang-Woo and Yoon Na-Bi too. She even correctly remembered the gift she gave you before you separated."

At the same time, Lee Ji-Yeon's trembling voice came through the phone.

-I-I'll go over right now.

"No. I'm bringing her to you right now, so please wait there."

-You will? Hurry. And make sure you bring my big sister with you. Okay?

"Yes, ma'am."

As soon as I ended the call, Jung In-Ji came out carrying the handbag she usually used. "Let's go. Quickly."

Watching the two sisters desperately wanting to see each other made my chest ache. Still, that pain would soon finally come to an end.

***

On the way to Lee Ji-Yeon's house in Hannam-dong, Jung In-Ji began telling us about the past.

Forty years ago, after being sent to Daemyeongseong Orphanage, she had refused to go when they said her adoption to America had been decided.

She had been seventeen at the time, and she planned to endure for just two more years until adulthood before finding Yoon Kkot-Nim and bringing the rest of her siblings back to raise herself. On top of that, she said her adoptive father, Scott White, had looked at her strangely, so she resisted fiercely.

In response, Former Director Han Myung-Sung starved her for three days. In the end, she made a desperate decision and escaped from the orphanage. Fortunately, she avoided starving to death thanks to the owner of Wangcho Grandma Noodles.

"If it weren't for the noodles and dumplings I ate back then, I wouldn't even have had the strength to run away. And the owner even gave me taxi fare and enough money to survive for a while, so I barely managed to escape."

"What happened after that?"

"I headed straight to Busan Station. I was trying to get to Suwon."

After leaving Wangcho Grandma Noodles, she had gone to Busan Station. However, when she arrived there, she overheard police officers talking over the radio. They were searching for a high school girl who had stolen money from Wangcho Grandma Noodles.

Realizing she had been reported to the police, Jung In-Ji left the station immediately and rode bus after bus until she eventually arrived in Suwon. When she finally found the orphanage Yoon Kkot-Nim had supposedly been transferred to, they reacted awkwardly.

"They told me Kkot-Nim had severe emotional problems even after being transferred there, so they sent her to another facility. Still, they absolutely refused to tell me where. They said if old acquaintances came looking for her, it would make adoption harder. So from that day on... I wandered around orphanages all over the country. Especially every special care facility where Kkot-Nim might've gone."

Afterward, Jung In-Ji changed her name out of fear that the police would find her and worked live-in jobs at a bakery. Then, through her connection there, she became the adopted daughter of the bakery owners and even received a new resident registration card under a new name. It was all so the police would never be able to find her.

Afterward, with the help of her kind adoptive parents, she spent every weekend searching disability facilities across the country. She believed her younger sister, paralyzed from the waist down, was waiting for her somewhere.

"Waaaah."

"Sniff... sniff..."

Yoo-Jin and Miso were sobbing uncontrollably after hearing about Jung In-Ji's difficult life. Even I felt my chest tighten from the weight of her story, and before I knew it, we had arrived in front of Lee Ji-Yeon's house.

Screeech.

Lee Ji-Yeon had come outside and was waiting for us, supported by her beloved protege Kim Soll-Ip.

Click.

The moment I parked the car, Lee Ji-Yeon staggered toward us. Seeing that, Jung In-Ji hurriedly struggled to undo her seatbelt.

"W-why won't this come off?"

"Just a second."

I immediately pulled the handbrake and turned to help undo it for her. But before I could, Miso, sitting beside her, unbuckled it first.

Click.

"There. It's off."

Jung In-Ji gripped her handbag tightly and stepped out of the car. I quickly got out as well and supported her from beside her.

In a trembling voice, Jung In-Ji asked Lee Ji-Yeon, "Kkot-Nim... is that you?"

Jung In-Ji looked completely unable to believe that Lee Ji-Yeon could walk, even while seeing it with her own eyes.

Lee Ji-Yeon also stopped in place and stared intently at Jung In-Ji. "Unnie? Are you really... Na-Ra unnie?"

Unfortunately, the two of them couldn't recognize each other immediately. Forty years was simply too long. On top of that, Lee Ji-Yeon had once been scammed by private investigators pretending to have found her family. Maybe because of that, even though I had confirmed everything, she still looked doubtful.

That was when Jung In-Ji opened her handbag and carefully took out something wrapped in pristine white hanji paper.

Rustle, rustle.

With trembling hands, Jung In-Ji slowly peeled away the layers of paper one by one before holding it out in front of Lee Ji-Yeon.

"Then... Do you remember this, Kkot-Nim?"

At that moment, Lee Ji-Yeon's entire body began trembling violently.

"That's..."