Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All-Chapter 581: Baek Sae-Gi (2)

After leaving Eve Hair Salon, Lee Seon-Hye called the salon owner, Director Tae Hyun-Jin.

Of course, he reacted with disbelief at first, but once I sent him the video I had recorded, he quickly apologized.

-This is really embarrassing. I'm sorry. I had no idea the deputy director would do something so outrageous.

Lee Seon-Hye replied, "I don't want to say anything more since I'm leaving anyway, Mr. Tae. I'm quitting as of today, so please make sure I get all the overtime and weekend pay I'm owed. And my severance too."

At that moment, Tae Hyun-Jin stammered as he continued.

-Chief Lee. Honestly, the salon's been going through a tough time lately. I'll pay the severance properly... but please go easy on the bonuses. There aren't even proper records for those. And if I pay all that at once, I might have to let go of a few of the part-timers. Do we really have to do this?

Tae Hyun-Jin was putting his heart into the act, but I already knew the future of Eve Hair Salon.

'What a joke. Who's he trying to fool?'

Around this time before the regression, Tae Hyun-Jin was looking for a location in Itaewon to open a second branch. So if we listened to him, Lee Seon-Hye wouldn't get the money she deserved. They say the wealthy act worse, and this was exactly one of those times.

I wasted no time jumping into the call.

"Mr. Tae. This is Chief Jung Yoon-Ho."

-Oh, Chief Jung. It's been such a... long time.

"Yes. It's been a while. I'm sorry, but I know you're currently expanding into a second branch in Itaewon. So let's stop with the excuses about not having money and pay Seon-Hye noona the back wages from the past ten years."

-H-How do you know about that...

As Tae Hyun-Jin reacted in shock, Lee Seon-Hye looked dumbfounded. Then she continued, speaking calmly and clearly.

"Mr. Tae. It's been ten years. Ten years! You didn't even pay proper overtime, but I stayed because I believed in your vision of growing the salon and sharing it with the team. But I guess I was just deluded. Pay me for all the work I've done! Or I'll bring in a lawyer!"

Tae Hyun-Jin's voice started to tremble. If, by any chance, his account got seized, opening that new Itaewon branch would be impossible.

-N-No. I'm sorry. That won't be necessary. I'll settle everything properly.

Lee Seon-Hye looked at me and mouthed a thank you. "Thank you."

I mouthed back to her. "You're welcome. But Seon-Hye noona, aren't you going to say anything about Deputy Director Gil So-Mi?"

"Oh, right!"

Lee Seon-Hye took a deep breath and mentioned what Gil So-Mi had done earlier.

"Oh, and check the security camera on the fourth floor."

-Huh? What's on the fourth floor?

"There should be footage of Deputy Director Gil So-Mi giving special treatments to customers and pocketing the cash. But if you don't check today, she might delete it."

-What did you just say?

Tae Hyun-Jin's voice shot up in pitch. Only after dropping that final bomb did Lee Seon-Hye end the call. She let out a deep sigh and looked at me. Her face was full of bitter emotion.

"One issue resolved... now just Baek Sae-Gi is left."

Lee Seon-Hye looked at me with sad eyes.

"Yoon-Ho. Is it really true that Sae-Gi and Han Jung-Yeon are... involved like that?"

I nodded with a bitter look. "Yes. But I think it'd be best if you confirmed it yourself."

Lee Seon-Hye hesitated for a moment, then picked up her phone and made a call. After a few rings, Baek Sae-Gi's voice came through.

-S-Seon-Hye! Whatever you're thinking, it's all a misunderstanding! What happened was, Han Jung-Yeon was just chasing after me one-sidedly...

It was clear Baek Sae-Gi had already heard from Han Jung-Yeon and was rushing to explain himself. But just from his unusual tone, Lee Seon-Hye realized I had been telling the truth.

At that moment, Lee Seon-Hye's voice erupted, loud enough to shake the alleyways near Gangnam Station.

"Baek Sae-Gi! You son of a bitch! I'm done with you! We're over!"

Click.

For the first time in her life, Lee Seon-Hye let out a satisfying curse and hung up. Clenching and unclenching her trembling fists, she barely managed to calm herself down.

"Phew~ I must have been a damn fool to believe in someone like that..."

A moment later, after somewhat collecting herself, she looked at me and asked, "Yoon-Ho. Did Sae-Gi ever wrong you too?"

"Yes. Actually..."

Only then did I tell her what Baek Sae-Gi had done to me after joining Hoop Entertainment—that he had taken orders from Ace Entertainment and stabbed me in the back to get me removed.

"You and I both suffered because we trusted the wrong person, huh?"

Since my return, the biggest betrayal I had felt was from Baek Sae-Gi. But not even that could compare to how hollow it must have felt for Lee Seon-Hye after ten years of support came crashing down.

"No. I'm more worried about you, Seon-Hye noona."

"No, honestly, I had already been thinking of breaking up. Something just didn't feel right."

Thankfully, she had already been suspecting something.

At that moment, Lee Seon-Hye suddenly narrowed her eyes and asked, "Yoon-Ho. Did you bring your car?"

"Yes."

"Then let's go to my place. There's a ledger that bastard secretly hid there."

"A ledger?"

"Yes. It's filled with receipts and probably records of bribes to PDs and directors."

I was going to ask for her help, but she offered first. And what she brought up was far more than I expected.

"Really?"

"Yes. He thinks I don't know where he hid it..."

"Let's go right now."

If there was a ledger Baek Sae-Gi made, then kicking him out of the company would be a piece of cake.

I immediately had Lee Seon-Hye get in my car, and we headed straight to her home.

***

After getting Lee Seon-Hye's call, Baek Sae-Gi rushed to the Gangnam officetel they had shared. She had been with him for ten years, so she knew everything about him.

Bang!

"Seon-Hye!"

Baek Sae-Gi's voice echoed through the apartment, but there was no response. The place was immaculate as if no one had been there.

"Did she not come back home...?"

Even if Lee Seon-Hye liked keeping things tidy, she hadn't taken a single thing. Baek Sae-Gi briefly made a bitter face, then headed to the small room to gather his belongings. He already had all the clothes and essentials at the officetel he shared with Han Jung-Yeon.

He had come here for one reason only—the bribery ledger taped behind his desk, listing names of PDs and directors.

As he entered the small room, Baek Sae-Gi glanced at the framed photos in the living room. Photos taken over the last ten years filled the space.

Baek Sae-Gi frowned and muttered, "We really lived together way too long."

Muttering to himself, Baek Sae-Gi entered the small room.

Click.

He turned on the light and reached behind the desk. Behind the panel under the desk, he had taped the ledger securely. However, his hand came up empty.

"What? What the hell?"

Startled, Baek Sae-Gi pushed the desk with all his strength. Pencils and a flowerpot crashed to the floor.

Crash.

The pot shattered, but Baek Sae-Gi didn't care. He shoved the desk even harder.

"Where did the ledger go?"

Only the tape fluttered from the desk panel. The ledger was gone.

"Wh... What... How...?"

Flustered, Baek Sae-Gi realized what had happened. And with a trembling hand, he called Lee Seon-Hye.

But then a familiar voice came through.

-The number you have dialed cannot be reached...

"Huh?"

Baek Sae-Gi tried calling again, but the same message repeated once more.

-The number you have dialed cannot be reached...

At that moment, Baek Sae-Gi realized it. Lee Seon-Hye had blocked his number.

"You! Lee Seon-Hye!"

Lee Seon-Hye had taken the weapon he had once prepared to climb to the top. And now, Lee Seon-Hye was with Jung Yoon-Ho.

Baek Sae-Gi was swept by the feeling that all the blood had drained from his body.

He knew Jung Yoon-Ho would never let go of that evidence.

***

As soon as I got the ledger from Lee Seon-Hye, I took her out of the officetel.

Just as we were leaving the parking lot, I saw the lights come on at her unit. We had narrowly dodged Baek Sae-Gi, and with his bribery ledger in hand, we headed to Cheonho-dong.

"Noona, stay at my place tonight. And don't even think about going home for a while. I'll arrange security and a place for you to stay."

With the ledger in his hands, Baek Sae-Gi might try to harm Lee Seon-Hye. So for tonight, I planned to get permission to let her sleep on the first floor, and from tomorrow, I would assign a bodyguard.

"Alright."

"And don't worry too much. If you sue Baek Sae-Gi to get back the money you lent him, that alone could land him in prison. Just hang in there until then."

Lee Seon-Hye had lent Baek Sae-Gi 500 million won from selling the villa she inherited from her parents, plus 200 million won she had saved over ten years of late-night work. She didn't make him sign a loan agreement because she believed they would get married.

Luckily, though, she had bank transfer records and texts showing that she had lent him the money. So even without a signed agreement, she could still demand repayment.

At that moment, I thought of a way to protect Lee Seon-Hye more easily.

"Noona, would you be interested in working as a hair designer at Soo-Chan's company?"

"Reverse Entertainment?"

"Yes. Soo-Chan, the acting president, is like my brother. You've done celebrity hair anyway, so the work would be the same."

I explained that if she worked at Lee Soo-Chan's company, she could be protected by my brothers.

After thinking for a moment, she nodded. "Alright. I'll do that."

I called Lee Soo-Chan right away via Bluetooth.

-Yes, hyung-nim?

"Hey, Soo-Chan. I've got a favor to ask."

I told him about Lee Seon-Hye's situation and asked him to protect her at Reverse Entertainment. And I also asked if he could help her get her money back with the help of our lawyer.

Lee Soo-Chan chuckled.

-Hyung-nim, did you forget what we used to do?

"Huh? What?"

-We collected unpaid debts... remember?

'Oh, right.'

They used to be part of the Kanghan gang. Most of those gangster elements were gone now, so I had almost forgotten.

I grinned and replied, "Think you can get it back?"

Lee Soo-Chan answered with confidence.

-We'll recover as much as we can, within the razor-thin edge of legality.

"Okay. Deal! And take good care of Seon-Hye noona, too."

-Don't worry hyung-nim. I'll block him at all costs.

At Lee Soo-Chan's reassuring words, Lee Seon-Hye's face brightened completely.

Of course, it also helped that I had promised to bring down Han Jung-Yeon too.

***

Screech.

After parking in the garage, I opened Baek Sae-Gi's ledger inside the car.

The ledger contained records of entertainment expenses starting from when Baek Sae-Gi became a team lead at Ace Entertainment—meetings with PDs from the three major broadcasting stations and cable networks, and film directors he had entertained.

These expenses had come from the 500 million won Lee Seon-Hye had earned by selling the villa inherited from her parents, and 200 million won she saved through years of hard work until midnight.

[January 12, 2017, Rosepia, 1.23 million won, KBC PD Park Woo-Sik, Dark Night, confirmed casting of Kim Seo-Yeon.]

...

[May 7, 2019, Shark, 930 thousand won, Director Oh Ji-Tae, film Our Utopia, confirmed casting of Park Seok-Tae.]

...

The ledger listed the dates, venues, amounts, people involved, the titles of works, and the names of actors pushed through lobbying, all in order. He had even kindly attached store receipts next to the entries.

After filtering out duplicate names, there were about fifty people on the list.

'It's Pandora's box.'

Most of the names were people who had received bribes back when I was at Top Entertainment before the regression, but a few were new to me.

As I flipped through each page, I eventually reached the final one.

[January 9, 2021, Aristotle, 2.03 million won, SBC PD Go Gi-Chang, World Gone Mad, accompanied by Sa Yung-Mi. Lobbying for casting.]

...

"What? He did the same thing even after coming to Hoop? He's insane."

The record showed that Baek Sae-Gi had brought Sa Yung-Mi, a minor actress in Actor Division 3, along on a lobbying trip.

I instantly made a video call to Kang Gam-Chan.

"Mr. Kang. I have something to report."

-What's going on at this hour?

"Chief Baek Sae-Gi compiled a private bribery ledger."

I showed the ledger through my phone camera.

"It lists PDs and directors he entertained with financial records. There must be at least fifty people."

Kang Gam-Chan let out a long sigh.

-That could turn into a real Pandora's box.

"Yes, sir. I agree. I think we can use it to fire Chief Baek Sae-Gi, but we need to be careful about disclosing it."

As long as Baek Sae-Gi was still with our company, we couldn't risk leaking the material. If we did, all the blame would fall on Hoop Entertainment.

After a moment of silence, Kang Gam-Chan said.

-Right. I think so too. If we leak this recklessly, we'll just become targets for the PDs and directors.

The moment I heard Kang Gam-Chan's careful words, I decided to hand over the ledger to him. Given the current situation, Kang Gam-Chan would know how to make the most of it.

"Mr. Kang, I'll give you this ledger. Please use it to terminate Chief Baek's employment."

After a brief pause, he replied.

-Sigh... Alright. I'll send Ji-Yung to collect it. Hand it to her.

"I'll be waiting."

-Thanks for your hard work.

After ending the call, I turned to Lee Seon-Hye.

"Noona, the president has agreed to help, so don't worry anymore."

"Thank you."

"Let's head in now. Oh, and Yoo-Jin and Miso will be in the first-floor living room."

Tonight was the broadcast of episode 3 of Hwaranjeon, and Yoo-Jin and Miso had just returned from a shoot in the countryside. Since she was also a fan of Yoo-Jin, Lee Seon-Hye tried to put on a cheerful face.

I then brought her into the living room and introduced her to Yoo-Jin and Miso. Since I had already asked for permission, Yoo-Jin and Miso greeted her warmly.

"Unnie, welcome~"

"Auntie, hello~"

Lee Seon-Hye gave a hesitant greeting. "Oh, hello."

"Come on~ you don't need to be formal. You're older than Yoon-Ho oppa, right?"

Yoo-Jin smiled brightly, and Miso raised her hand and said, "Auntie! Can you braid my hair?"

When she heard that Lee Seon-Hye was a hair designer, Miso looked thrilled.

"Uh, um... Of course, anytime."

Miso tugged on Lee Seon-Hye's hand and pulled her toward the living room, wanting to play. Receiving such warm treatment from Yoo-Jin and Miso, Lee Seon-Hye was finally able to forget, at least for a while, the pain of her devastating breakup.

After that, we ordered spicy chicken feet and jokbal as late-night snacks and got ready to watch Hwaranjeon.

Ding-dong.

A short while later, I heard the doorbell and stepped outside.

Kang Ji-Yung was standing there, holding delivery bags of chicken feet and jokbal in both hands.

"Um, Mr. Jung. I've got the delivery on your behalf."

I took the plastic bags and handed her Baek Sae-Gi's ledger. "Here's the ledger."

It felt like I had bartered spicy chicken feet for Baek Sae-Gi's ledger.

"Please take good care of it."

Kang Ji-Yung licked her lips and nodded. "Just leave it to me."

"It's chicken feet, jokbal, and buckwheat noodles... Do you want to stay and eat?"

Wiping away the saliva at the edge of her mouth, Kang Ji-Yung replied with a trembling voice, "N-No, I should get going. I'll probably be up all night analyzing this ledger."

After sending the drooling Kang Ji-Yung off with the ledger, I took the chicken feet and jokbal back into the living room. Then we all gathered around and started watching Hwaranjeon.

"Alright~ it's starting!"

Episode 3 ran for an hour, and its final viewership ratings came out to a staggering 21.2%.

Whether it was Miso's impressive acting or the fiery chicken feet, Lee Seon-Hye's face had begun to glow red, slowly regaining its liveliness.

***

The next morning, a team lead level meeting was held.

There was usually some tension between the original Hoop Entertainment staff and those from Gwanwoo Entertainment, but today the distance felt especially palpable.

That was because yesterday, Yang Ji-Seon, previously managed by Gwanwoo Entertainment, declared she wanted to move to Actor Division 4.

As a result, So Ji-Min was shooting daggers at me.

In contrast, Baek Sae-Gi, who knew I now held the ledger that was his lifeline, looked haggard as if he hadn't slept a wink.

Bang.

At that moment, the meeting room door opened and Kang Gam-Chan entered with Kang Ji-Yung, Kim Gwan-Woo, and Kim Jang-Bi. All four wore uncharacteristically serious expressions.

Kang Gam-Chan barely acknowledged the greetings and sat down, looking at us.

Then he began to speak in a stern tone unlike his usual self. "From today, Yang Ji-Seon will be jointly managed by Actor Division 4 and Singer Division 2. Make sure everyone's aware."

Immediately, So Ji-Min shouted, "Mr. Kang! That's unacceptable!"

That's when Kim Gwan-Woo raised his voice instead of Kang Gam-Chan. "Chief So, shut it! I agreed to it too!"

"M-Mr. Kim?"

When Kim Gwan-Woo backed Kang Gam-Chan, So Ji-Min's eyes widened.

'So they must've finished reviewing the ledger yesterday.'

I remembered there was one entry in Baek Sae-Gi's ledger mentioning a meeting with Kim Gwan-Woo. Maybe they struck a separate deal to keep that under wraps, and now Kim Gwan-Woo was siding with Kang Gam-Chan.

Just as I expected, Kang Gam-Chan was already making expert use of the ledger I gave him.

Then Kang Gam-Chan turned to Baek Sae-Gi and shouted thunderously, "And as for Chief Baek Sae-Gi, we'll be convening a disciplinary committee soon to decide on the level of punishment. You not only dragged a minor, Sa Yung-Mi, into a bar, but also engaged in lobbying with directors. Do you have anything to say, Chief Baek?"

Baek Sae-Gi looked at Kim Gwan-Woo with a blank expression. However, Kim Gwan-Woo coldly turned away from him once again. In the end, Baek Sae-Gi lowered his head in utter despair.

'Goodbye, Baek Sae-Gi.'

Baek Sae-Gi's downfall was just beginning.

At that moment, Kang Gam-Chan began making a final shocking announcement.

"And finally..."

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