Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All

On June 17th, 2020, I declared in our first meeting as the newly appointed team lead that I would promote our team to a division before the year was out.

After my shocking announcement, I met the eyes of my frozen team members and spoke. "And I would like you all to join me on this journey."

Gulp.

The staff gathered in the meeting room swallowed hard.

"Do you have any questions?" I asked.

Lee Yung-Jin immediately raised his hand. "Is this a mere hope or a realistic goal?"

"Obviously, it's a realistic goal," I replied.

"But is a promotion to a division really possible with our sales?" Lee Yung-Jin continued asking.

"That's a good question, Mr. Yung-Jin. But do you know how much revenue a typical division makes?"

Lee Yung-Jin shook his head. "No, sir."

At that moment, Eun Ji-Yoo cautiously responded. "As far as I know, it ranges from a minimum of 50 billion won to as much as 200 billion won, Mr. Jung"

I nodded. "Exactly. Last year, Actor Division 1 made 204 billion won, Singer Division 1 made 132 billion won, and Actor Division 3 made 85 billion won. Unfortunately, Singer Division 2 and Actor Division 2 only made 50 billion won each."

The faces of the staff listening to me turned red at the news that the sales of the entertainers from Actor Division 2 and Singer Division 2 on our fourth floor were the lowest.

"Therefore it would be fair to say that the minimum threshold for being promoted to a division starts from 50 billion won."

I made eye contact with each team member as I spoke.

"That's why I've set our team's sales target for this year a bit higher at 70 billion won. Next year, I plan to double that. Then no one can object to our promotion to a division even if our team is small."

Once again, the team members were astonished by my remark.

"Oh, also, 1% of the profits will go to the team members if we achieve a revenue of 70 billion won...so you could each take home a bonus of about 5 million to 10 million won. We don't have many team members after all," I added.

As unbelievable words followed, my team members were completely astounded. In my case, achieving 70 billion won in sales would mean an additional bonus of about 100 million won for me since I was the team lead.

I spoke to the employees who were continuously rolling their eyes. "It seems my words aren't quite getting through. Then Mr. Yung-Jin, let's start with setting a sales target for the actors' part."

Lee Yung-Jin finally snapped back to attention at the mention of his name. He gulped down the water on the table and then spoke of the expected sales for the actors' part. "Currently, the forecast for the actors' part is a total of 22 billion won in the fourth quarter."

I proposed a new target. "Let's increase the target a bit more from there. How about a neat 40 billion won?"

"40 billion won?" Lee Yung-Jin asked as his eyes widened.

When I nodded in response, Lee Yung-Jin cautiously asked another question. "Mr. Jung, are you perhaps thinking of bringing Mr. Jang Jun-Hyuk to our team?"

"No. Mr. Park In-Ki will manage Mr. Jang Jun-Hyuk."

"Then how are we going to achieve that sales figure?"

My solution was simple—to raise the value of the current actors and recruit new ones who could bring in money.

I started sharing my plans with the team. "For the second half of this year, we will focus on increasing the value of our current actors. There will also be new actors joining us."

With the upcoming recruitment of new actors and potential members from Faithful, it would be more than sufficient for us to meet our goals.

"So just trust and follow me. I assure you it's entirely possible," I said confidently.

The expressions of the team members began to brighten a little at my confident words.

"Yes, sir. I may not be good at leading, but I do follow quite well, don’t I?" Lee Yung-Jin remarked.

I responded to Lee Yung-Jin’s supportive words with a smile. He was easy-going but always did his best when it came to work.

Next was the singers' part. If the overall team sales target was 70 billion won and the actors' part was 40 billion won, then the singers' part would have to achieve 30 billion won.

For this reason, the members in charge of the singers' part had been completely spaced out with devastated expressions until now.

"Miss Ran-Hee?"

Do Ran-Hee, who had been frozen, was startled by my sudden mention of her name.

"Yes. Yes, Mr. Jung!"

"Don't worry too much. Actor Division 2 has agreed to count 20% of Cherry Blossom's sales toward our team's revenue."

Do Ran-Hee brightened up and asked, "What are the expected sales for Cherry Blossom this year?"

"Cherry Blossom is looking at an expected sales of 5 billion won. That would mean about 1 billion won for us."

"Sigh. Even with 1 billion won, we’re still 2 billion won short of the singers' part target." Do Ran-Hee said with a sigh.

"Miss Kang Ha-Na will fill that gap," I remarked.

"Miss Ha-Na?"

The expressions of Eun Ji-Yoo and Do Ran-Hee were on the verge of tears, worried about how the rookie Kang Ha-Na alone could make up 2 billion won.

Eun Ji-Yoo asked cautiously after listening in silence. "Mr. Jung, it’s true that Miss Ha-Na sings well, but how can one female solo artist bring in 2 billion won?"

The music charts were usually dominated by idols like girl and boy bands, which indicated the importance of recognition and publicity. Everyone was seriously worried whether the rookie singer-songwriter Kang Ha-Na could break through such fierce competition.

"We'll open an exclusive MeTube channel for Ha-Na. We'll do daily live broadcasts and simple talks to promote her and include advertisements. Those earnings will be additional revenue. Oh, and please look for a scriptwriter with MeTube experience rather than from broadcasting. The PD in charge of the channel can be from broadcasting though."

Eun Ji-Yoo pondered for a moment and then asked, "If we open a dedicated channel, does that mean it's separate from the company's MeTube channel?"

"That's right. Our team has been granted permission to open an independent MeTube channel. In the future, we plan to separate the channels of other actors and singers we recruit as well."

"So like individual MeTubers?"

"Exactly."

While it was still early days, some celebrities had already started earning supplementary income by managing their own MeTube channels. However, the money celebrities made as MeTubers would become the largest revenue model in the entertainment industry within the next ten years.

I managed to persuade Kang Ji-Yung regarding this and received permission to establish an independent channel that could be fully accounted for as Team Jung's revenue. After all, as Team Jung grows and expands its activities, the influence of Kang Gam-Chan’s line would also grow stronger.

However, the content planning and publicity had to be managed by Team Jung.

I looked at them and spoke. "Entertainment agencies literally manage everything about a celebrity. As long as it generates revenue, it's our job to handle it."

The faces of the team members were filled with contemplation, but eventually Lee Yung-Jin took the initiative and exclaimed, "Let's give it a shot! Something will come out of it if we try hard enough."

Inspired by Lee Yung-Jin's encouragement, confidence started to appear on the other team members' faces.

I thought about everything that Team Jung had to do.

'Now the real work begins. Achieving 70 billion won in sales, promoting Team Jung to a division, increasing the size of the team by bringing key figures into our team, and gathering funds to jump into the fray when Hoop Entertainment goes public.'

For the next two and a half years, I planned to do everything to prevent Hoop Entertainment from splitting just like in my past life.

On top of that, becoming Korea's top talent agent was a bonus for me.

***

On the day the final episode of Blue Sky was set to broadcast, I bought some drinks and went to Yoo-Jin's house with Haru to watch the finale.

As we entered the living room on the first floor, Jung In-Ji had generously prepared snacks and was waiting for us.

"Here, here. Sit down. Yoo-Jin will be down soon," Jung In-Ji said with a bright smile, pointing to the cushions she had prepared.

When Haru and I took our seats, Jung In-Ji explained that the remodeling on the third floor would take about two weeks.

"Then we should be able to move in by the end of the month," I replied with a smile.

Jung In-Ji smiled happily. "It's going to feel lively with people around—that's what makes life enjoyable."

"We're excited to move in as well," I smiled and remarked.

"Me too!" Haru agreed.

Jung In-Ji began to tear up. "Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky. It's been lonely since my son went to Suwon..."

"Aw. Don't cry, ma'am," I comforted Jung In-Ji.

"Oh, I'm being silly. Sorry," Jung In-Ji replied, wiping away her tears.

Just then, the front door on the first floor opened and Yoo-Jin entered with Miso. But they were carrying a large box in their hands.

"Ta-da!" Yoo-Jin exclaimed.

The box wrapped in pink with colorful floral patterns had a giant yellow ribbon the size of my head tied around it.

"Yoo-Jin, what is this?" I asked.

Yoo-Jin and Miso were so excited they spoke at the same time.

"It's a gift for your promotion to team lead, oppa!" Yoo-Jin exclaimed.

"Uncle Yoon-Ho, I did the wrapping!" Miso announced excitedly.

I accepted the large box big enough for a person to curl up inside and thanked them.

"Uncle Yoon-Ho, hurry and open it. Do it now!" Miso urged with an excited expression.

"Then shall we open it together, Miso?" I asked with a smile.

"Okay!"

If it weren't for Miso, I would have just ripped the box open without a second thought. After all, I've never really cared much about wrapping paper. But I couldn't just tear into it recklessly since Miso, who had wrapped the gift herself, was watching.

I borrowed a box cutter and began carefully peeling off the tape as if performing surgery. It was surprisingly difficult to cut the wrapping paper without causing any damage to the box. As I removed the last piece of tape, a sigh escaped me unknowingly.

"Phew~."

I wiped my forehead with my sleeve, and Miso did the same. "Phew~."

I carefully handed the peeled wrapping paper to Miso. "Here's the wrapping paper, Miso."

"Yay!" Miso beamed with satisfaction.

"Alright. Shall we open it now?" I asked.

"Yes!"

Now it was time to remove the yellow tape stuck to the box.

But fortunately, Yoo-Jin laughed and said it wasn't necessary to be so careful anymore.

"Ha ha ha. Oppa, just rip it."

I looked at Yoo-Jin and asked, "Is that okay?"

With a sense of relief, I ripped off the tape at once. But the moment I opened the box, there was something completely unexpected inside.

"This is..."

Inside the box was an Ormani navy blue suit. Two sets of premium suits were packed inside, identical to the ones I used to wear in my past life.

I lifted my head and saw Yoo-Jin smiling.

"You always wear suits only, oppa. I was thinking about what you needed most, and I couldn't think of anything but suits."

"Even so, these are too expensive..."

"Oh, it's fine. It's not that expensive." Yoo-Jin winked, a signal not to discuss the price publicly.

'Each would cost at least 3 million won if she bought these from the mall...' I thought to myself.

Seeing my surprised face, Miso cheered joyfully and raised both hands. "Mom and I really took our time picking these out at the mall!"

Ironically, Yoo-Jin didn't even own a single designer bag, let alone a branded one. Moreover, Yoo-Jin's frugality was such that she even compared the value of the meals Lee Ji-Yeon bought at Hwaryong to that of a simple beef soup.

I had never imagined she would give me such an expensive gift—and two sets at that.

"Yoo-Jin, I don't need two sets. Let's return one and..."

But Yoo-Jin crossed her hands to form an X. "They've already been tailored to fit you perfectly. You can't return them."

"They've been tailored too? How did you know my size?"

"I just took the suit you're currently wearing to the dry cleaners and they did everything needed from there."

Apparently, Yoo-Jin had taken one of my suits I left at the local dry cleaner to the mall to get it altered to the same size.

'When did she even do that?' I wondered.

At this point, there was nothing I could do. All I could do was gratefully accept her generosity and find a way to give back even more.

"Thank you. I will wear them every day."

At that moment, Jung In-Ji and Haru carefully handed me a box wrapped in a black plastic bag. "Ours isn't expensive. But we packed it with lots of love."

Their gifts were nutritional supplements and Ursodeoxycholic acid tablets.

"You really didn't have to do all this..."

My heart swelled with emotion.

I had always been the giver, not the receiver of gifts in my past life. It was essential for fostering relationships with superiors and dealings with broadcasters and investors. I celebrated milestones like debut anniversaries, ten million hits, and film festival awards by distributing carefully chosen gifts to celebrities and their families.

But this life was the opposite. From being someone who spread corrupt gifts, to receiving heartfelt ones—it was a complete turnaround.

I was left feeling overwhelmed, not knowing what to do.

I just stood there with the gifts in my hands, feeling a tickle in my chest and a sting around my eyes. Having had few such experiences in my past life, I was at a loss for how to express my gratitude.

That's when Jung In-Ji brought me back to the moment.

"Team Lead Jung, the drama is about to begin. Let's watch the finale."

"Ah, yes."

Coming to my senses, I bowed deeply once again to the four of them. "Thank you. I really appreciate it."

"Hey, we're the ones who should be thankful. If it weren't for you, I'd still be looking for minor parts, oppa," Yoo Jin responded.

Everyone nodded in agreement to Yoo-Jin's words.

I felt a satisfaction greater than any monetary gain, thanks to the people who knew their gratitude and reciprocated affection. I knew I had to repay this 'debt' in the future.

Miso pointed to the TV. "Hey, it's starting!"

The commercials ended and episode 24 of Blue Sky finally began. We adjusted our positions and started watching the last episode of Blue Sky while munching on snacks prepared by Jung In-Ji.

'Wow, this is going to be big news tomorrow.' I smiled at the thought.

Watching the final episode filled with Yoo-Jin's acting, I already began to anticipate the audience's reaction it would generate the next day.

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