Chapter 947: Choice (3)
"Who do you think you are, acting so arrogantly and withdrawing from an audition in the middle of it? Hey, are you the writer? Who gave you the right to decide that on your own?!" shouted Writer Nam Jong-Ok.
I had just said we were withdrawing from an audition that had already dragged on for nearly twenty-five minutes. However, Nam Jong-Ok exploded in a shrill voice, furious that I had dared make a decision she believed belonged solely to the writer.
I ignored her completely and bowed toward the panel where the KBC production staff sat. "I'm sorry. Since Mrs. Nam Jong-Ok clearly doesn't think well of So-Yeon, I believe it'd be best for us to withdraw from this audition."
Flustered, PD Park Eun-Hyo hurriedly tried to stop me. "Chief Jung, how can you suddenly do this? Calm down. Calm down, okay?"
'Calm down? They sat there silently watching the writer throw a tantrum this entire time, and now they want me to calm down? No way.'
Now it was time for them to see a talent agent throw a tantrum too.
"You all know very well what happens to actors who get on Mrs. Nam Jong-Ok's bad side inside her dramas. I can't let So-Yeon go through that."
There was another nickname attached to Nam Jong-Ok besides Queen of Daily Dramas. It was "The original queen of trashy melodramas."
In other words, her dramas were packed with outrageous plot twists, and every actor who appeared in them usually had to suffer through at least one ridiculous ordeal. Lead actors generally had it easier, but if she personally disliked someone, the situation changed completely.
In her previous work, after clashing with one of the major cast members, Nam Jong-Ok had turned the actress into a vegetative patient who spent thirty episodes lying motionless in a hospital bed. And during that time, she even forced her to act possessed by a ghost and play a lunatic.
So if someone had already gotten on Nam Jong-Ok's bad side like this, even being cast would only make them a bigger target for harassment.
The moment I pointed that out, PD Park Eun-Hyo, CP Jeon Doo-Hyun, and Department Director Pyo Eun-Jong all fell silent. After all, the only reason Nam Jong-Ok had been able to pull stunts like that was because the production staff had chosen to look the other way.
"Ahem... Well..."
Park Eun-Hyo still tried desperately to smooth things over, but I gave another reason why Jang So-Yeon could never take this role.
"And I also can't tolerate the way Mrs. Nam deliberately stabbed at So-Yeon's deepest wound."
"Deepest wound?"
I clenched my fist tightly and answered, "While everyone else was going to college, So-Yeon had to go out and earn money. That's why she couldn't even properly attend high school, let alone university. It's all written right there in her profile, yet after seeing that, she still mocked her for not going to college. How is that not completely disrespectful?"
Pyo Eun-Jong and Park Eun-Hyo turned toward Nam Jong-Ok with uncomfortable expressions. No matter how powerful the writer was, their faces clearly said she should at least apologize to the actress for that.
Yet, instead of apologizing, Nam Jong-Ok began breathing heavily and jabbing a finger toward me. "Goddammit, what a pain in the ass. You don't want to do it? Then quit. You think there's no actress besides that high school dropout bitch? I'll cast that one standing over there instead. Hey. What's your name again?"
Only then did Nam Jong-Ok point toward Yang Ju-Yung from HK Entertainment instead of Jang So-Yeon.
Even though the writer hadn't bothered remembering her name until now, Yang Ju-Yung suppressed her bitterness and answered politely. "Ju-Yung. I'm Yang Ju-Yung from HK Entertainment."
"Right, Ju-Yung. You take the role of Lee Jong-Mi in Twice-Lived Life. My dramas succeed because of my scripts anyway, not because of actors."
She hadn't even cared enough to remember Yang Ju-Yung's name before, but now she simply couldn't stand the idea of losing to me.
'But Writer Nam Jong-Ok. You can't beat me.'
I turned toward Pyo Eun-Jong, who looked deeply troubled. "It seems Mrs. Nam has already made her decision."
"Chief Jung. Why don't you reconsider one more—"
"The writer has already decided, so what more is there for me to say? More importantly, Mr. Pyo, there's something else I'd like to tell you."
"To me?"
"Yes. I looked into it, and apparently a complaint was filed with the prosecution claiming Mrs. Nam Jong-Ok hasn't even been properly paying minimum wage to her assistant writers."
"What?"
"Originally, I was planning to clean this up quietly after So-Yeon got cast. But things didn't work out that way, so I'm giving you a heads-up. Ah, investigators will probably be coming to KBC too, so you should prepare yourselves."
Shock spread across Pyo Eun-Jong's face. "W-Wait. Even if the writer's involved, why would KBC be dragged into this?"
"Because management of assistant writers' working conditions falls under the broadcasting station's responsibility, doesn't it? So unless KBC wants to get sued too, you should probably start reviewing the payment records for your daily dramas over the past ten years and settle any unpaid wages in advance."
Three months from now, one of the assistant writers working under Nam Jong-Ok would fail to receive proper overtime pay and eventually report everything she had experienced to the press. And I had just informed KBC Drama Pyo Eun-Jong of that future. No matter how much chaos I caused, I still needed to keep Pyo Eun-Jong on my side as much as possible.
Pyo Eun-Jong answered in a trembling voice, "R-Right. Understood. I'll personally look into it."
Right then, Nam Jong-Ok shouted furiously in a shrill voice. "Hey, Chief Jung! Tell me right now who filed that damn complaint!"
'Why would I tell you now that we'd become enemies?'
And besides, my rampage wasn't even over yet.
I turned toward Assistant Writer Lee Ok-Mi, who stood there anxiously clutching the paper bag. "And Ms. Lee Ok-Mi, you should think carefully too. If you keep staying as Mrs. Nam Jong-Ok's assistant forever, you'll never get your chance to shine."
At the same time, I handed Lee Ok-Mi my business card.
Startled, Lee Ok-Mi accepted it before hurriedly waving her hands. "I-I haven't thought about anything like that yet..."
"Everyone already knows half of Mrs. Nam's previous drama was practically written by you. So if you ever want to go independent, Hoop Entertainment would gladly bring you in."
The reason I valued Lee Ok-Mi wasn't just because she was a capable assistant writer. It was because of a drama she would write three years later called My Song.
My Song had originally been a script Lee Ok-Mi prepared for a screenwriting contest, but after her mother suddenly collapsed, she desperately needed hospital money and ended up selling the work to Nam Jong-Ok for twenty million won. And later, My Song would become a massive hit, averaging 25% viewership ratings and peaking at 37%.
"I heard your mother's health isn't very good either. You should debut as a head writer soon and let her live comfortably," I said.
"How do you even know that...?"
"I'm Chief Jung, remember? There's no one in this industry who knows backstage information better than I do."
At that moment, Nam Jong-Ok ground her teeth together and shouted, "Are you seriously insane? You're trying to steal my assistant writer right in front of me?"
I shrugged. "Steal her? I merely offered better conditions. And if you don't want people taking her away, then you should treat her accordingly."
Nam Jong-Ok whipped her head around. "Ok-Mi! Are you going to betray me and go to him?!"
Lee Ok-Mi hurriedly bowed her head. "N-No! I still have so much to learn from you, Mrs. Nam. I'm not leaving."
But even then, she quietly slipped my business card into the paper bag she was carrying.
'That's what you get. Why provoke me in the first place?'
Leaving behind a trembling, furious Nam Jong-Ok sinking deeper into chaos, I politely greeted the broadcasting staff who had already begun discussing legal measures.
"I'm sorry for the disturbance. We'll be leaving now."
I gathered Jang So-Yeon, who was drenched in sweat from the lengthy audition, along with the talent agents, and headed toward the door.
That was when Nam Jong-Ok shouted, "Hey! Stop right there! Stop! I said tell me who reported me before you leave!"
Ignoring Nam Jong-Ok's shouting, I pulled open the audition room door.
"Hey! Jung Yoon-Ho! If you walk out that door, we're at war from now on! A war! Do you understand!?"
As Nam Jong-Ok thrashed around in fury, her sunglasses finally flew off. Only then did I finally understand why she had refused to take them off all day. Her left eye was badly bruised dark blue.
"I'll send you some ointment for bruises."
"What? O-Oh. My sunglasses."
Nam Jong-Ok hurriedly put her sunglasses back on, but everyone in the room had already seen her face. I let out a small laugh before walking straight out of the audition hall.
'Writer Panda. Sure, let's go to war. We'll see who wins.'
Honestly, I was starting to look forward to seeing whether she could really beat a regressed talent agent.
***
As soon as I left the audition hall, I immediately called Prosecutor Park Jung-Jik.
"Hyung-nim. It's Yoon-Ho."
-Oh, Yoon-Ho. Don't worry about NK Construction. The information you gave me was pure gold. Once we finish analyzing the materials, we're planning to indict them immediately.
"Ah, it's not about that. Have you ever heard of Writer Nam Jong-Ok?"
-Yeah. The trashy drama writer, right? Dong-Mi watches her dramas every day, so I've ended up watching them too.
Apparently, Han Dong-Mi kept forcing him to watch dramas with her, because somehow a prosecutor knew the name of a trashy melodrama writer.
'My poor brother-in-law. Stay strong, hyung-nim.'
Anyway, that wasn't the important part right now.
"That writer's been severely exploiting her assistant writers, but apparently they're too intimidated by her influence to report it. Is there any way to handle this?"
-Yoon-Ho, why are you suddenly acting so formal? I already heard everything from Mr. Seo Jae-Ill. We'll process it as an anonymous report.
"Thank you."
-Right. And once Dong-Hae hyung-nim's internal whistleblowing case is wrapped up, let's all meet together with Mr. Seo.
"Yes, hyung-nim."
After hanging up, Lee Yung-Jin stared at me in shock. "Mr. Jung... don't tell me... you were actually the one planning to file the report?"
"Why does it matter who filed it? If mature citizens see injustice, reporting it is the obvious thing to do."
"Holy crap. That's insane!"
In the original timeline, another assistant writer would have eventually reported it. But this time, I planned to lighten that burden for her and make absolutely sure she got every unpaid cent she deserved. After all, I had just confirmed once again that my razor-sharp prosecutor brother-in-law was even more capable than I expected.
Even though it was already past seven in the evening, I spoke to everyone. "All right then, should we go meet Mrs. Lee Ji-Yeon right now?"
"Right now?"
"Yeah. She told us to come, so let's go secure the next project."
Even though we had lost the project we originally wanted, I had no intention of going back empty-handed. After all, my head was filled with the complete list of future works Lee Ji-Yeon, the godmother of dramas, would eventually create.
'Mrs. Lee Ji-Yeon. We're coming to see you now.'
***
At the entrance to the luxury villa complex in Hannam-dong, around ten entertainment reporters who had rushed over hoping to get an interview with Lee Ji-Yeon were causing a commotion after being blocked by the security guards.
"Come on, just let us in. We got permission from Writer Lee Ji-Yeon herself!"
"I'm sorry. We haven't received any notice from inside."
"Then it must've gotten missed!"
"That's impossible."
"Hey! Are you seriously trampling on the public's right to know right now or what?"
The reporters had gathered because of the article written by Reporter Ahn Yoo-Bae from Baro Star. After all, one famous writer assaulting another famous writer was a highly sensational story.
Sitting in the back seat of the car, I turned toward Jang So-Yeon beside me. "So-Yeon. Keep your head down."
"Okay."
The rear windows were heavily tinted, so we managed to pass through the security checkpoint without the reporters noticing us. Soon, we arrived in front of Lee Ji-Yeon's house located deep inside the luxury villa complex.
Buzz.
The automatic parking gate slid open. After parking the car, our group headed together toward the front entrance.
Click.
The front door opened, and Lee Ji-Yeon appeared looking utterly exhausted. "Everyone's here?"
"Yes, Mrs. Lee."
"Come in."
Lee Ji-Yeon guided us inside. The moment we entered, we saw Writer Kim Soll-Ip sitting anxiously in the living room beside Attorney Kim Chan-Sung.
After greeting the two of them, Lee Ji-Yeon sat down and asked, "There are a lot of reporters outside, right?"
"Yes."
"They're making such a huge fuss. It's not like there's anything worthwhile for them to feed on..."
"It's because of the Baro Star article, isn't it?"
"What else would it be? Though honestly, this kind of thing blows over in a day or two. Anyway, should we talk about our business first?"
Lee Ji-Yeon's project was important, but I thought we needed to deal with the Baro Star article before anything else. Rumor articles were best handled as quickly as possible.
"Mrs. Lee, let's take care of the Baro Star situation first."
"No. It's fine. I heard you suffered quite a bit today because of me, Yoon-Ho. Let's talk about my project first."
At that moment, Kim Soll-Ip suddenly spoke up. "Mrs. Lee! This kind of thing is Mr. Jung's specialty. Since he's already here, ask him for advice. We need to handle it quickly."
Kim Chan-Sung agreed as well. "Mrs. Lee. To be honest, Mr. Jung will probably handle this better than I can."
After hesitating briefly, Lee Ji-Yeon looked at me. "Yoon-Ho. Then could you help me first?"
"Of course. Do you just want the article taken down?"
"Yeah. Even just that would be enough."
If it was Ahn Yoo-Bae, I had more than enough ways to handle him. Still, there was something I needed to confirm first.
After taking a seat in the living room, I asked Lee Ji-Yeon, "Did Reporter Ahn Yoo-Bae contact you beforehand by any chance?"
"No. Not at all."
Kim Chan-Sung shook his head too. "I never received any contact either. I even tried calling him myself afterward, but he wouldn't pick up."
It was strange. The reason Ahn Yoo-Bae usually published rumor articles was almost always money. And if my memory was correct, he was in the middle of a divorce lawsuit around this time. Since the custody battle was involved too, he should have desperately needed money, so the fact that he hadn't contacted Lee Ji-Yeon despite having the perfect chance to extort a huge payout felt suspicious.
Something was definitely off, so I immediately asked another question. "Then who exactly attended the writers' gathering yesterday?"
"At the Chinese restaurant yesterday, it was just me, Soll-Ip, Jong-Ok, and her assistant Ok-Mi."
"You used a private room at the restaurant, right?"
"Of course."
It was no wonder I had felt uneasy earlier. I suddenly understood who had leaked the story to the reporter.
"I think Writer Nam Jong-Ok paid to have this article published."
"Jong-Ok did?"
"Yes. To completely destroy your public image, Mrs. Lee."
Kim Soll-Ip immediately agreed. "That's what I thought too. Something felt off."
Lee Ji-Yeon nodded. "Come to think of it, it was strange. There weren't even any employees inside the room, yet the article still got published."
"And there aren't any security cameras inside private rooms either."
"Exactly..."
'Writer Nam Jong-Ok. You got so angry about getting hit that you even paid to have an article planted, huh? Fine. I'll tear everything apart for you.'
"Understood. Then I'll take care of this right away," I said.
"How?"
"You'll see."
After hearing the full details about last night directly from Lee Ji-Yeon, I immediately called Ahn Yoo-Bae. After several rings, he finally picked up.
-Oh~ If it isn't the hottest man in Korea right now, Mr. Jung. What brings you to call me?
Maybe because of the NK Construction article, he sounded oddly friendly, probably hoping to sniff out another exclusive scoop. However, I answered coldly.
"I'm calling about Writer Lee Ji-Yeon. The article you posted was completely fabricated, so take it down and correct it."
-Ah, you got my hopes up for nothing. If that's why you called, I'm hanging up!
Ahn Yoo-Bae tried to end the call. That was when I deliberately lowered my voice and spoke firmly.
"Mr. Ahn. I know you're currently in the middle of a divorce lawsuit."
-...How the hell do you know that?
"You don't need to worry about how I know. Anyway, if you don't take down that article immediately, a lawsuit for false reporting is going to be filed. And don't you think that might seriously affect your divorce case? Especially once your wife hears about it..."
-Hey! Jung Yoon-Ho. Are you trying to play dirty with me right now?
"Oh? Want to see what playing dirty really looks like? This is only the beginning. And should I also talk about how you illegally investigated actress Kang Min-Ha's marijuana scandal?"
I knew several things about fake rumor articles Ahn Yoo-Bae had written. The moment I casually brought up one of the incidents he had investigated illegally, he immediately shouted.
-Wait! Stop, stop. You win. You win, okay? What do you want me to do?
As expected, Ahn Yoo-Bae surrendered almost instantly.
"Publish a correction article immediately clearing Writer Lee Ji-Yeon's name. Do that, and I'll let this slide once."
-Damn it. Fine. I'll do it. I'll post it! I just have to say it was a mistaken report, right?
'As if I'd let you decide that yourself.'
"No. You'll write exactly what I tell you to."
-...Damn it! The other reporters told me never to get tangled up with you. I must've lost my mind. Fine. Tell me what to write!
"It's long, so I'll send it by email."
-I'm hanging up and waiting. Just text me once it's sent.
'No. The call isn't over yet.'
"And about today's incident...Writer Nam Jong-Ok was the one who put you up to this, right? She probably paid you too."
-...
The silence confirmed it.
"If you keep that money, it'll poison you. If you don't want to get dragged down with her, spit it back out."
-What the hell is that supposed to mean?
"You'll understand once you read the article I'm sending."
-Damn it. My horoscope today said, 'Live kindly.' Guess now I know why.
"Then I'll send the article immediately."
-Fine.
After hanging up, I immediately started writing the article.
***
[Queen of Daily Dramas Mrs. N. She is Actually the Queen of Power Abuse? (Drama Godmother Mrs. L Was the Real Victim.)]
-The truth behind last night's assault incident at Chinese restaurant N!!
It has been reported that Drama Godmother Mrs. L scolded Queen of Daily Dramas Mrs. N after learning that she had failed to properly pay her assistant writers.
Specifically, she told her to take proper care of the hoobae writers financially.
Enraged by the criticism, Mrs. N reportedly lashed out and accused Mrs. L of acting superior.
During the confrontation, Mrs. N stumbled over herself and accidentally collided with Mrs. L...]
The moment the correction article went up, everyone including Lee Ji-Yeon stared with their mouths hanging open. Just moments ago, Lee Ji-Yeon had been painted as the aggressor. Now she had suddenly become a generous sunbae writer standing up for exploited hoobaes.
Lee Ji-Yeon spoke in disbelief. "This actually... worked?"
At that moment, Kim Soll-Ip nodded proudly. "See, Mrs. Lee? This is exactly why I told you from the start that we needed to call Mr. Jung!"
"Seriously..."
Lee Ji-Yeon nodded and finally let out a relieved sigh. However, her expression still remained serious.
"What's wrong, Mrs. Lee?" I asked.
That was when Lee Ji-Yeon slowly lifted her head and looked straight at me. "After everything that happened today, I realized something I need to do immediately."
'Something she needs to do? Ah, maybe she means doing another interview or additional corrections?'
I was just about to offer my help. Then Lee Ji-Yeon said something I never expected.
"Chief Jung. Would you become my talent agent?"
'Me...? Becoming Writer Lee Ji-Yeon's talent agent?'
