"What do you think you're doing right now?"

As I stepped out of the elevator, I shouted at Team Lead Yang Tae-Min of Actor Division 3, who had Lee Yung-Jin by the collar.

Yang Tae-Min kept hold of Lee Yung-Jin's collar as he looked at me. "Chief Jung?"

Yang Tae-Min had been my sunbae and my mentor when I first joined the company. However, he was also the irresponsible bastard who had gone over to Kim Dong-Soo's Actor Division 3 and dumped Yoo-Jin on me when I still didn't know a thing.

And right now, he was just another bastard who had laid hands on one of my precious team members.

"You'd better let go before I snap that wrist clean off," I warned.

Yang Tae-Min clenched his teeth, then abruptly let go of Lee Yung-Jin's collar. "Damn it."

The moment Yang Tae-Min released him, I checked Lee Yung-Jin's condition first. "Yung-Jin. Are you okay?"

Lee Yung-Jin rubbed his stiff neck and answered, "I'm fine."

"I can understand CK Entertainment going after me, but what on earth happened for it to come to grabbing someone by the collar?"

"Actor Kim Si-Jin from Actor Division 3 had been tentatively cast as the lead in Headbutt Boy, which CK is distributing, but this morning we were notified he'd been replaced. They said he lost the role because of you, Mr. Jung."

Kim Si-Jin was a thirty-five-year-old actor, a talented supporting actor with a kind face. This was his first time landing a lead role in a film called Headbutt Boy, which was about a professional wrestler. He had been looking forward to it tremendously, but he had just gotten word that the offer had been withdrawn.

"Did you mouth off at him?" I asked.

Lee Yung-Jin shook his head. "No. I just asked whether they'd at least checked if there was any issue with the actor himself, and then he grabbed me by the collar right away."

When talent agents got notified by a production company that someone hadn't been cast, they usually rushed over in person to confirm things first. That was because the real reason often turned out to be completely different from what they had said over the phone: pay issues, scandal concerns, or simply that they liked another actor better. And plenty of times, meeting face-to-face cleared up the misunderstanding and set things right.

So all Lee Yung-Jin had done was tell him to check, and Yang Tae-Min had gotten angry and grabbed him by the collar. At least this wasn't Lee Yung-Jin's fault. Now that I had a rough picture of what had happened, it was time to clean up the mess.

I spoke to Yang Tae-Min first. "First, I do apologize for the trouble Mr. Kim Si-Jin has gone through because of my conflict with CK Entertainment."

Yang Tae-Min gave a snort and squared his shoulders.

Nevertheless, I immediately continued speaking to him in a firm, clipped tone. "That said, that's one matter. As for grabbing Assistant Manager Lee Yung-Jin by the collar, I will be convening a disciplinary committee."

Yang Tae-Min's expression changed at once. "W-What? Why are you putting me before a disciplinary committee? Huh? You were the one who messed up, so why me?!"

I glared at Yang Tae-Min and said, "Watch how you address me."

Yang Tae-Min trembled, then bit down on his teeth before answering. "I'm... sorry. But I still don't understand why I should be referred to a disciplinary committee. You're the one who caused the problem, Mr. Jung."

"Even if that were true, if you had an issue, you should've taken it up with me. Why are you picking a fight with someone else?"

Yang Tae-Min spoke in an urgent voice. "Mr. Kim Si-Jin is saying right now that he won't renew with our company. What was I supposed to do? You weren't around, and Assistant Manager Lee Yung-Jin kept playing dumb! I was frustrated, that's why! I was frustrated!"

'What a joke.'

No one knew better than I did that Yang Tae-Min had a habit of smacking people lower-ranked than him across the cheek and kicking them in the shin with his dress shoes. He had always been like that before I regressed, and I knew he was still doing it in secret even now.

"Save that explanation for the disciplinary committee."

At that moment, Yang Tae-Min shouted at me like a warning. "If Mr. Kim Si-Jin doesn't renew his contract, you won't walk away from this unscathed either, Mr. Jung."

"I'll handle the situation with Mr. Kim Si-Jin, so you don't need to worry."

At that, Yang Tae-Min immediately seized on my words as if he had been waiting for them. "And what will you do if you can't handle it, huh?"

Seeing that he had no intention of reflecting on what he had done, I decided it would be better to drag him even deeper into the mire.

"If I fail to persuade Mr. Kim Si-Jin, I'll cancel the disciplinary action against you. In return, arrange for me to meet Mr. Kim Si-Jin right now."

The corner of Yang Tae-Min's mouth curled upward. He seemed certain I wouldn't be able to calm down the already furious Kim Si-Jin. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Fine. Then let's go right now. It's absolute chaos over there!" Yang Tae-Min turned around and headed toward the elevator.

Just as I was about to follow, Lee Yung-Jin suddenly grabbed my arm. "Mr. Jung. I'll apologize, so can't we just let this go?"

"Forget it. Why would you apologize when you didn't do anything wrong?"

"Still... Mr. Kim Si-Jin has been extremely volatile lately. I'm worried something serious might happen."

"It's fine, so don't worry. I've got a way to deal with it. And if anyone from another division comes by, tell them I already have a solution prepared, so they can relax."

"A solution?"

"Yeah. So trust me. Blessed are those who believe."

I gave Lee Yung-Jin's shoulder a couple of light pats, then stepped into the open elevator.

'Let's see how much I can stir things up.'

***

The fifth floor where Actor Division 3 was located, the moment I stepped out of the elevator, every employee there glared at me.

"If you're going to fight CK Entertainment, you should've fought them alone."

"Seriously. Now we're the ones stuck in the middle, taking the hits."

"A person ought to know when to swallow their pride. It's not like the rest of us don't have pride, you know?"

All the talent agents in Actor Division 3 were people under Kim Dong-Soo's influence, so they were naturally hostile toward me. On top of that, because they had followed Chief Ju Ho-Sung's instructions and hadn't bought our company's shares, they had also lost the chance to make a lot of money.

Strictly speaking, it had been their own decision not to buy the stock, but somehow they still blamed me for it. It felt like I had stepped into a den full of enemies, but I simply answered with a light smile. Now wasn't the time to fight with them. Calming Kim Si-Jin came first.

Yang Tae-Min smirked and pointed toward the meeting room. "Over there. Let's go together."

"Alright."

Under the barrage of stares from the staff, I headed toward the meeting room. Just then, loud shouting spilled out from behind the door.

-Don't stop me! Damn it. You're telling me to share my hard-earned money with those useless bastards? Hey! Are you even talent agents? The company can't even help me, and now my first leading role is gone?

-Hyung-nim, please calm down. Since this happened because of Chief Jung, Team Lead Yang went to take care of it. It'll be handled soon.

The anxious voice of Team Lead Na Gyu-Cheol followed.

-Hyung-nim my ass, don't call me that! Quit your bullshit! You expect me to believe that?

Kim Si-Jin's voice was filled with fury. He had just landed the lead role in his very first film, only to lose it, so his emotions were completely out of control.

However, there was another reason for his anger. For Headbutt Boy, a film about a professional wrestler, he had gained thirty kilograms for the role, and now all of that effort had been for nothing.

Yang Tae-Min curled his lips into a grin as he grabbed the doorknob.

'In a moment, I'm going to smash that smug face of yours.'

Thinking that, I waited for the door to open.

Click.

As the meeting room door opened, I saw that every drink and snack on the table had been swept onto the floor.

At that moment, Kim Si-Jin spotted me and strode over, snorting angrily. "Hey! Perfect timing! Chief Jung, you bastard. I heard you got my project completely wrecked. What the hell did you do with CK Entertainment to cause this kind of trouble?"

The man standing right in front of me looked ready to swing a punch at any moment.

Nevertheless, I answered with a calm expression. "I never intended to cause any harm. CK Entertainment was trying to sabotage a project where Yoo-Jin was cast as the lead, so I simply stopped them."

"Hey! If you clashed with CK Entertainment, you should've bowed your head and apologized! Look at the mess this caused because of you! I gained thirty kilograms for this project, and now it's all gone to waste! How are you going to take responsibility for this?"

Kim Si-Jin was normally a very mild-mannered person. But because he had rapidly gained weight for Headbutt Boy, he had become extremely sensitive, unable to properly control his emotions.

"Please calm down, Mr. Kim."

"Calm down? Did you just say calm down? Hah. Look, to be honest, I'm barely holding myself back from throwing a punch right now. You get that?"

"Of course I do. You forced yourself to eat piles of hamburgers that don't even suit your constitution just to gain those thirty kilograms, throwing up along the way. You even stopped exercising altogether, something you used to love, and did nothing but keep eating. Lately you've been suffering from insomnia and depression has set in too. Your emotions have been fluctuating intensely."

Before the regression, when Kim Si-Jin joined the project Headbutt Boy, I had actually been his talent agent. Because of that, I knew every problem he was dealing with. What was hardest for him right now wasn't simply the fact that he had gained weight, but the severe emotional instability that had come with it. That was why he was reacting far more violently than usual.

"...How did you know that?" Kim Si-Jin asked.

"I make it a point to know everything about the actors under Hoop Entertainment. Especially you, whose health has been declining lately. I've been keeping a particularly close eye on you."

I softened the explanation slightly, hoping his anger would cool. Right now, calming him down came first.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Yeah. Like you said, lately everything pisses me off and gets on my nerves. But what pisses me off even more is that gaining all that weight turned out to mean nothing!"

Right then, as if I had been waiting for that exact moment, I spoke. "What if I get you a better project?"

"Hah, are you kidding me right now? With this body? What other project could I possibly lead?"

"There is a project you can do with that body."

"What is it?"

"It's called Diet KING. It's a romantic comedy about an overweight office worker who starts dieting after reuniting with his first love for the first time in ten years, ultimately discovering true love. And that film will draw five times more viewers than Headbutt Boy."

Headbutt Boy, a story about a professional wrestler, had only drawn about one million viewers. But Diet KING, the film I was introducing, had reached 5.2 million viewers at the box office. On top of that, it would lead to countless diet-related advertisement deals.

And before my regression, the lead actor of Diet KING had been Sung Joon-Kyung, a notoriously violent actor who ended up being arrested, so I had no hesitation recommending Kim Si-Jin instead.

"Diet... KING?"

"Yes. You'll naturally lose the weight as part of the role, and during filming you'll even have Korea's best trainer assigned to you. On top of that, you could film diet drink commercials while working on the movie."

As the unexpected possibilities piled up, Kim Si-Jin's anger quickly began to fade. The weight he had gained might actually turn into a blessing in disguise.

"Really?"

"Yes. And if you take it now, you won't have any competitors."

"Is that... so?"

Just then, the situation suddenly shifted.

Yang Tae-Min, who had been standing with his arms folded and snickering alongside Na Gyu-Cheol, suddenly shouted in shock. "M-Mr. Jung! What are you doing right now? We asked you to calm Mr. Kim Si-Jin down. Why are you pushing some random project on him?"

Na Gyu-Cheol hurriedly cut in as well. "Choosing Mr. Kim Si-Jin's projects is the responsibility of Actor Division 3! Isn't this overstepping your authority?"

Looking at the two flustered men, I replied calmly, "You asked me to deal with the fact that he's refusing to renew his contract, didn't you? I'm simply resolving the issue."

Yang Tae-Min flared up. "W-What kind of resolution is this?"

I let out a small chuckle and asked Kim Si-Jin, "Mr. Kim. If I secure you the lead role in that project, will you renew your contract with Hoop Entertainment?"

Kim Si-Jin glanced at the two team leads for a moment, then nodded. "If you can guarantee me the lead role in that movie, then sure. I'll renew. Do you have any idea how hard I've struggled just to land a lead role once? Oh, but don't think I'll renew just because you stick me in the lead of some B-grade or doomed movie."

Na Gyu-Cheol cried out in shock, "Hyung-nim! H-How can you say that?"

"Why? Should I not renew then?"

"N-No, that's not what I meant..."

"You may be my talent agent, Gyu-Cheol, but if someone's offering me a lead role, why would I refuse? And it's a role where I won't even have to lose weight on purpose, right? That's a win for me. Honestly, shouldn't Team Lead Yang be the one grabbing Chief Jung's pant leg and begging instead? Huh?"

Yang Tae-Min hurriedly interjected. "Of course what you're saying makes sense. But you know better than anyone that making a film isn't that easy. What happens if you renew your contract and then the movie never gets produced?"

Kim Si-Jin started to waver at Yang Tae-Min's words. However, interference at this level was something I had already anticipated.

"What if Mr. Shin Jong-Ki of LT Entertainment guarantees the production and the lead role?"

Just last month, LT Entertainment had ranked number one in the distribution industry in revenue. If its president personally guaranteed it, no actor would refuse. After all, once the head of a distribution company stepped in, the film would inevitably get made and be screened in far more theaters. That meant a larger audience.

"Y-You can really guarantee that?"

"Yes."

"Can you confirm that right now?"

"I'll confirm it for you right away."

I immediately pulled out my phone and called President Shin Jong-Ki. After several rings, Shin Jong-Ki answered.

-Oh, Chief Jung. I heard the company is going through some trouble. Don't worry. I'll help you out.

It seemed Shin Jong-Ki had also heard that CK Entertainment had pulled some strings.

"Then may I ask you for a favor?"

-Sure. Go ahead.

"I'd like to recommend Mr. Kim Si-Jin as the lead for Diet KING."

-Hmm. But Diet KING only just entered development. Where did you hear about it?

At the moment, LT Entertainment had already received the script for Diet KING and finished reviewing it, and they were currently considering whether to produce it.

Originally, because the screenwriter was unknown and the lead actor needed to gain weight beforehand, it had been difficult to find a lead actor. As a result, the film wasn't expected to go into actual production for another two years. Yet, since Kim Si-Jin had already gained weight and was prepared, filming could be moved forward.

"Talent Agents always have their own information channels. In any case, Mr. Kim Si-Jin just had his casting in CK Entertainment's Headbutt Boy canceled, and he's currently gained nearly thirty kilograms."

When I explained that the biggest obstacle for Diet KING had already been solved, Shin Jong-Ki burst into hearty laughter.

-Haha! Then we're basically just sitting here with our mouths open while the fruit falls in. The way you're talking, Chief Jung, it sounds like the box office success is practically guaranteed. But there is one problem.

"What problem?"

-We don't have a director. Starting with Director Yang Sang-Jin, all the capable directors have sided with CK Entertainment.

"Please don't worry about that. I can introduce you to an excellent director."

-Who is it?

"I'll tell you when we meet in person."

-Then it's a guaranteed yes from me. Let's discuss the details further once Kim Si-Jin comes to the company.

"Yes. Thank you."

I ended the call, then looked back at Kim Si-Jin. "Now, will you renew your contract?"

Kim Si-Jin's face brightened instantly as he looked at me with satisfaction. It was the expression of someone whose worries had completely disappeared.

Just when I thought it was over, Kim Si-Jin added one more condition. "If you agree to one more thing, I'll renew."

'Even after all this, another condition?'

Still, a talent agent had to accommodate whatever conditions celebrities asked for as much as possible—or at least pretend to.

So I answered with a calm expression, "Of course. Please go ahead."

That was when Kim Si-Jin made a completely unexpected demand. "From now on, I want you to manage me personally. If you do that, I'll renew."

'Oops.'

That was not the reaction I had anticipated. All I had wanted was for Kim Si-Jin to realize firsthand the difference between me and Actor Division 3. Once that happened, Actor Division 3 and Yang Tae-Min would be put in an awkward position.

But instead, I had unexpectedly ended up pulling Kim Si-Jin out of Actor Division 3 entirely.

At that moment, Yang Tae-Min and Na Gyu-Cheol of Actor Division 3 began turning pale, as if they had just stepped on a landmine. It seemed I might have pushed things a little too far.

'How awkward. I almost feel bad about it.'