Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All-Chapter 717: Angels Gift (3)

While Chae Seok-Hyun was breaking down his emotional walls and blowing warm air on Kang Eun-Gi's hands, I received a Kk Talk message from Lee Soo-Chan saying he had found the ones who tormented Chae Seok-Hyun.

[Lee Soo-Chan: Hyung-nim. I found them. But they're not tourists. They're members of the Hyuntak Gang in Seogwipo.]

I suppressed my anger and asked him.

[Jung Yoon-Ho: Do you have them with you now?]

[Lee Soo-Chan: No. But I found out where they usually hang out. They're usually at a billiard hall below the Hyuntak Gang's office. If the guy in the photo matches, I'm going to head there now. Please confirm.]

[Jung Yoon-Ho: Got it. Send me the photo first.]

[Lee Soo-Chan: Okay.]

Buzz~

Lee Soo-Chan sent the photo. The appearance matched the description given by Chae Seok-Hyun's maternal grandmother.

I went straight to her and held out my phone. "By any chance, are these the men?"

"Y-yes. That's them."

We had found the culprits. I immediately messaged Lee Soo-Chan.

[Jung Yoon-Ho: Wait in front of the Hyuntak Gang office. I'm coming too.]

[Lee Soo-Chan: Understood. I'll send you the address.]

Meanwhile, Kang Eun-Gi was gently holding Chae Seok-Hyun's hands, telling him it was okay. "Seok-Hyun. I'm not hurt at all. It's okay now. You can stop."

Chae Seok-Hyun shook his head and said, "No. I hit you with all my strength."

"I'm really tough. This doesn't hurt at all, so don't worry."

Then, Chae Seok-Hyun awkwardly reached out with both arms and hugged Kang Eun-Gi. For a child with autism, that was a huge act of bravery. After all, children with autism were extremely averse to physical contact.

"Thank you for forgiving me. Uncle Eun-Gi, you're a really good person."

Kang Eun-Gi was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion and hugged Chae Seok-Hyun tightly. "Y-you're a good person too, Seok-Hyun. I'm going to catch all the bad guys and make them pay. Okay?"

Chae Seok-Hyun looked up and asked, "Like I-Bic?"

"Yeah. Just like I-Bic. I'll take down all the bad guys."

Chae Seok-Hyun gave a wide smile. "Thank you."

At that moment, tears began to fall from Chae Mi-Hyun, her grandmother, and Yoo Jung-Ae who stood beside me. They said no one had ever gotten this close to Chae Seok-Hyun before, especially on the first day of meeting.

I waited a moment for their emotions to settle. Then I turned to Kang Eun-Gi and wrote a message in my Galactica Note.

[Eun-Gi, we found them.]

Kang Eun-Gi nodded while still hugging Chae Seok-Hyun. However, there was a deadly glare in his eyes.

So I quickly scribbled in the note again.

[Relax your face. Seok-Hyun's watching you. I'll handle it, so you just stay with him and keep him company.]

Kang Eun-Gi had only recently been released from prison under special pardon. On top of that, he was currently filming The Omniscient Viewpoint and working on the acquisition of Angel Chicken & Pizza. He couldn't afford to get involved in any trouble. More importantly, if Kang Eun-Gi lost control, Fortune of the Day on Everyday might not just flip but it could turn from receiving a death notice to sending one.

For these reasons, I decided to keep Kang Eun-Gi here and turned to Chae Seok-Hyun. "Seok-Hyun, Uncle Eun-Gi sings really well. Ask him to sing with you."

Chae Seok-Hyun turned to me and asked, "Really?"

"Yup. Uncle Eun-Gi is an amazing singer."

Then a different kind of menace flashed across Kang Eun-Gi's face. The guy was tone-deaf.

'I'm sorry, Kang Eun-Gi. But you need to stay here.'

Excited, Chae Seok-Hyun began searching for the Bluetooth mic.

Kang Eun-Gi glared at me and mouthed silently, 'Yoon-Ho, please take care of them.'

'Don't worry.'

I answered with the same silent mouth movement, then left Chae Seok-Hyun's house to meet the culprits.

***

I arrived in front of an old five-story building near Jungmun. On the first floor was Hyeonju Café, and the second held Dongtak Billiards. Floors three to five belonged to the Hyuntak Gang, who ran a private loan business.

Ten people were present outside the office: members of Security Team 1 led by Lee Soo-Chan and others from Team 2, affiliated with TOP Security.

Lee Soo-Chan gave me a quick rundown. "The boss's name is Jang Hyun-Tak, and he owns this building. It's not a large group, but they've been rooted here for over twenty years. As for the three guys from yesterday, they just joined the gang about three months ago."

"So they're still at that puffed-up phase. Got it. Anyway, they're here now, right?"

"Yes. We asked the nearby shop owners and they said the guys went inside just a little while ago."

"Alright."

Then Lee Soo-Chan cautiously added, "Hyung-nim. Honestly, we'd love to beat those guys to death, but please hold back."

He looked worried I might actually send out a death notice today.

I took a short breath and nodded. "I just want them to apologize enough that Seok-Hyun can forgive them."

Relief flickered across Lee Soo-Chan's face. "Ah, yes. Understood."

Still, I thought it would be best to set up a safety net. I immediately called Park Tae-Seok, the president of H2 Hotel. This morning, he had told me he was from Jeju and had some pull around here, offering to help if needed.

-Hello~ Mr. Jung. What's going on?

"You said to call if I needed help, so here I am."

-Hahaha, good. Tell me what you need.

"Do you know the Hyuntak Gang?"

-Hmm. I do. Their boss, Jang Hyun-Tak, was my hoobae in middle school. Did he mess with one of your people?

"Not him, but some of his underlings did. That's why I'm calling."

Park Tae-Seok's voice turned sharp.

-Who the heck dared to touch your people?

"They're just rookies who joined the gang recently. You know how reckless they can be. I just want an apology and a promise that it won't happen again. Could you mediate?"

-Understood. I'll call them right away.

"Thank you."

Click.

I ended the call and looked at Lee Soo-Chan. "Team 2 stays here. Soo-Chan, you just follow me. Try not to intervene unless necessary."

"Okay. We'll stay back unless it gets serious."

"Good. Let's head up."

The Hyuntak Gang office spanned floors three to five, but bosses rarely stayed in these places.

Since I couldn't be sure when the guy might show up,I planned to start with a calm talk with the three thugs for now.

***

Clack, clack.

As I opened the door and stepped into the billiard hall, the sound of balls colliding echoed through the room. Of the five tables, three were in use. There were ten people playing in total, including the three thugs who had tormented Chae Seok-Hyun the night before.

At that moment, a man in his early thirties wearing a skull-printed T-shirt glanced over and spoke. "We're not open for business. There's a place across the street—Song Song Billiards. Anyone can go there."

I shook my head. "We're not here to play. We're here to find someone."

"Someone?"

"Yes. Those three in the back caused a bit of trouble last night. That's why we're here."

Immediately, the mood shifted. All ten of them stiffened. Still holding their cue sticks, they began to slowly approach.

"What kind of trouble are you talking about?" The man in the skull shirt furrowed his brow.

"My nephew is a special needs child. But they jabbed him with a stick and called him a retard. As his uncle, I figured I should get an apology."

The three in the back who had bullied Seok-Hyun contorted their faces.

"No way. That retard had a family?"

"Wow. You came all the way to confront the Hyuntak Gang over that? You guys must have a death wish."

Having only recently joined the gang, they were still full of arrogance.

The man in the skull shirt turned to glare at them. "Shut the hell up, you idiots."

Only then did the three finally close their mouths.

Then the skull-shirt guy looked back at me. "Sounds like our boys made a small mistake. But come on, young punks make dumb mistakes all the time, right? If it's nothing serious, why don't you turn around and walk away? That's the smarter move."

He must have assumed we were regular civilians. I guess it made sense—if we were gangsters, we would have barged in yelling. And being from a local Jeju gang, he probably didn't recognize Lee Soo-Chan, who used to be part of the powerful Kanghan Gang.

"The boy may not have visible injuries, but he's left with a deep scar inside. That's why I need an apology from those three."

The man's brow twisted hard. "Did you not hear me? A scar inside? You wanna end up with a hole in your chest instead?"

"I'd rather not, actually."

"Then why the hell are you here, acting tough in our turf, demanding apologies from my boys?"

"Because I want one."

He let out a short laugh, then turned back. "Do-Joon, Hak-Sung, Woong-Sik. He says he wants an apology. Seems like this guy's lost his mind. Can you handle it?"

Do-Joon, the one with bleached yellow hair, Hak-Sung with an earring, and Woong-Sik with a gold chain stepped forward.

"Ten seconds tops."

"I'll do it in five."

"Three for me."

These guys were in their early twenties, clearly drunk on their own size.

"Alright then. Make sure he learns his lesson. But not too rough, got it? What do I always say? Keep it moderate."

"Got it, hyung-nim!"

As Lee Soo-Chan started to step forward, I raised a hand. "I'll take care of this."

Lee Soo-Chan shook his head. "No, I mean, please keep it moderate."

It was three-on-one, yet he was more worried for them than me. I shot him a look that said, 'Couldn't you at least worry about me?' but he only tilted his head.

"What? Should I just wait downstairs?"

"No... I'll be right back."

"Okay!"

Leaving my unconcerned teammates behind, I walked forward alone.

Woong-Sik, the one with the gold chain, snorted and stepped up. "Look at this guy. Got a death wish or something? Hey. If you get on your knees now and apologize, maybe I'll talk hyung-nim into letting you live."

Just then, the guy with the bleached hair and the one with the earring grabbed his shoulder. "Who said you could let him live? Move aside if you're gonna talk softly. I'll take care of it."

"Screw that. Today's my turn."

The fact that they were fighting over who got to beat me up was almost laughable. Well, that explained why they had bullied Chae Seok-Hyun like that.

I curled a finger at them. "Cut the crap. Just come at me all at once. You're all within one-hit range anyway, so why waste breath?"

The three of them, riled up, charged at me in a line.

"You son of a bitch—"

"You're dead meat today—"

"Fuck!!"

'Yeah. If your head's no good, your body pays the price.'

***

Wham. Wham. Wham.

I threw one hit per thug. A single righteous punch to each jaw, and they all dropped unconscious on the spot.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Their bulky bodies collapsed one after the other onto the cold floor of the billiard hall. If Lee Soo-Chan hadn't told me to go easy, I might have thrown in a full rehabilitation punch. The thought of what they did to Chae Seok-Hyun had flashed across my mind.

Just then, the guy in the skull T-shirt shouted in a trembling voice, "Wh-who the hell are you?"

The moment the three went down in an instant, the entire mood shifted. The others who had been holding cue sticks so casually were now gripping them tight with both hands, legs shaking. Their reaction wasn't surprising, because local thugs like these probably hadn't seen anything like this before. And they clearly didn't watch much TV either, because they had no idea who I was.

"I'm—"

Just then, a little bell above the door jingled as a man in his fifties burst in.

Ding~

"C-Chief Jung! Chief Jung! I'm Jang Hyun-Tak! I got a call from Mr. Park Tae-Seok, so let's talk this out, alright? Let's—huh?" Jang Hyun-Tak stopped mid-sentence, jaw dropping at the scene in front of him. "It's already over?"

Jang Hyun-Tak looked at me in disbelief for a moment.

Then he turned to the others and shouted, "Put those sticks down! Do you even know who this man is?"

The guy in the skull shirt yelled back, "Boss, who the hell is he?"

"You fucking idiots. He's the most popular talent agent in the country right now! And on top of that, he's a former national boxing champ, you morons! If I hadn't shown up just now, you'd all be dead! Drop those sticks already!"

The rest of them, including the skull-shirt guy, swallowed hard.

After making a show of yelling, Jang Hyun-Tak took a deep breath and looked at me. "Chief Jung. It seems my boys really messed up. I haven't heard the full story, so could you tell me what happened? If they're in the wrong, I'll personally apologize."

"Well, here's what happened..."

***

Smack, smack, smack!

"You little punks... You thought it was a good idea to climb someone's wall? And pick on a sick kid? Huh? Are you even human, you bastards?!"

Now that he knew the whole story, the Hyuntak Gang boss started smacking the hell out of the three who had bullied Chae Seok-Hyun, kicking up dust like it was a rainy day.

Thud!

"Aagh! I-I'm sorry, boss!"

"Ugh! I-I deserve to die!"

"If you deserve to die, then go ahead and drop dead, you sons of bitches!"

Wham!

Jang Hyun-Tak's thick hands struck without mercy. I didn't know what Park Tae-Seok had said to him on the phone, but Jang Hyun-Tak was clearly overcompensating to make a good impression on me.

In the end, I had to stop him. This was more than enough. "Let's leave it here. All I want is their promise not to do it again."

"Huff, huff, huff... Got it." Jang Hyun-Tak then turned to the three and barked, "Beg, you bastards!"

The three of them hesitated, then dropped to their knees. The three men who had bullied Chae Seok-Hyun now had faces swollen like they had been stung by bees.

I asked Jang Hyun-Tak if I could record them.

He nodded. "Go right ahead."

If I didn't film their apology, there was a real risk Kang Eun-Gi might show up later and things would get a lot worse then. So at the very least, I needed to bring this back.

The three dropped to their knees and began to apologize.

"We committed an unforgivable crime! We're truly sorry!"

"We'll never go near him again!"

"We're sorry!"

Their swollen faces bowed low as they begged for forgiveness, groveling pathetically. As punishment for tormenting someone weaker than themselves, they were now facing the most humiliating moment of their lives.

'Try living like decent people. Seriously.'

That thought was just crossing my mind when I heard a buzz.

Buzz~

[Notification: Fortune of the Day has been updated.]

Finally, the ominous fortune was gone.

[Everyday V13]

[Date: March 6, 2021]

[Fortune of the Day: You'll receive an unexpected gift.

(Deleted Fortune: You'll receive unexpected news of a death. Prepare mourning clothes in advance.)]

'An unexpected gift?'

I didn't know what it was yet, but just having Chae Seok-Hyun's death fortune vanish was enough.

***

After leaving the cleanup to the Hyuntak Gang's boss, I returned to Chae Seok-Hyun's house. When I walked in, Kang Eun-Gi and Chae Seok-Hyun were still singing.

『 Space warrior~ 』

『 Uncle Eun-Gi is kind, but not a good singer. But if you try hard, it will be fine. One more time!』

Children with autism didn't lie. Tone-deaf Kang Eun-Gi was now beet red, endlessly singing. He might actually achieve vocal enlightenment at this rate.

To save him, I turned to Chae Seok-Hyun. "Seok-Hyun. I went and punished the guys who hurt you yesterday."

Chae Seok-Hyun stopped singing. "R-really? You punished the bad men?"

"Yup. Here, take a look."

I held out my phone to Chae Seok-Hyun. The video showed the three men crying and apologizing with snot and tears running down their faces.

Chae Seok-Hyun began to tremble and stomped his feet. The memory of being helplessly bullied the night before had clearly left him scared, frustrated, and angry.

"It's true! The bad men! They got punished!" Chae Seok-Hyun repeated those words over and over, then suddenly bolted upstairs to the second floor.

Chae Mi-Hyun called after him in surprise. "Seok-Hyun! Where are you going? Say thank you first!"

I shook my head and stopped her. "It's alright. He's just excited. Let's give him a moment."

Chae Mi-Hyun leaned in and whispered, making sure her voice didn't carry into the mic. "Thank you, Mr. Jung. But... won't this cause problems for you?"

"It's fine. I cleaned everything up."

The Hyuntak Gang's boss had even kicked the three men out of the gang completely, telling them never to show their faces in Seogwipo again. Only then did Chae Mi-Hyun finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Just then, Chae Seok-Hyun was coming back down the stairs, huffing and puffing.

Thump, thump, thump.

In both hands, he held an unexpected gift.